The Pastoralists' Association of West Darling launches campaign #tagtroubles

The Pastoralists' Association of West Darling (PAWD) has launched a social media campaign #tagtroubles on Facebook to inform producers about the implications and costs of eID.

The campaign comes as NSW Farmers calls for a substantial investment from the state and federal governments to make their traceability reform achievable.

PAWD councillor Lachlan Gall said the process of adopting mandatory eID was being rushed through without proper consultation, or consideration for adopting commonsense eID tag free movement options in some circumstances.

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"At grassroots level, there is enormous concern and anger arising from the planned adoption of mandatory eID for sheep and goats," Mr Gall said.

"Livestock producers and other stakeholders are aggrieved that they are not being heard."

Mr Gall said PAWD strongly recommended that the NSW eID sheep and goat reference group as well as other industry representatives undertake meaningful face-to-face consultation with livestock producers and other stakeholders across the state.

"If this means that the whole eID adoption process slows down, then so be it," he said. The post asks the question what eID was going to cost producers.

"Consider this, the full cost of electronic tagging is probably around two dollars a head, and this is only ever going to rise. If your family is selling 5000 animals a year, then you will be spending $10,000 on electronic tags every year," the post said.

It also questioned the effectiveness of the tag in arresting an exotic disease outbreak, particularly foot and mouth and the impact it would have on the Australian livestock industry.

"Some of the commentary around the introduction of an eID system is implying that electronic tags will prevent an outbreak of exotic disease. This is completely misleading," the post says.

"The adoption of mandatory eID's does not decrease the risk of an exotic disease outbreak in Australia, nor will it prevent the temporary loss of export markets or the destruction of livestock."

Meanwhile NSW Farmers have said a move to eID would far exceed the $20 million offered by the federal government, and with a timeline set for mandatory tagging, farmers were in the dark on what financial support would be made available.

NSW Farmers president Xavier Martin said 80 per cent of NSW sheep and goat producers were not using eID and were concerned about the costs associated with implementing the scheme. These costs include a wand reader, eID drafters and infrastructure modifications to pens, races and yards to install the technology.

Mr Martin said users of eID reported their costs ranged from $40,000 to $70,000, and 66pc surveyed would need to modify infrastructure on their farms.

NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders announced the mandatory roll out of eID for sheep and goats in July 2022 following an outbreak of FMD in Indonesia.

Under the scheme, sheep and farmed goats born after January 1, 2025 will require a tag before leaving a property, and from January 1, 2027 all farmed sheep and goats will require a tag.

Producers can have their say at a sheep and goat information session at Broken Hill on February 16.