Sheep producers have been encouraged to think of the introduction of electronic identification (eID) as an opportunity for their business, as part of a panel discussion held at the annual MerinoLink conference.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
The presentation heard the experiences of a stud, commercial producer, and a consultant about their experiences with the technology.
It comes as the industry questions the potential cost and timeline of the roll-out of mandatory eID for sheep and goats.
Hamish Dickson, AgriPartner Consulting, Orange, advises producers about eID.
Mr Dickson said it was the potential for better information that could lead to more informed decision making.
He had worked with many clients who had transitioned to eID and said it came back to identifying goals and using the technology to their advantage.
"The places where I've seen eID implemented really well is normally when there's been a really clear business goal or improvement in profit that you can target that you can align eID into," he said.
"It's really, I think, important in a lot of situations to understand that eID is just the tool.
"Where we often see that it falls down is when we just chuck tags in the next drop of lambs and we just start collecting a bit of data here and a bit of data there and we don't end up using it.
"There's got to be a really clear gauge as to why we're doing it in the first place."
This included pregnancy scanning and wool data, which could allow producers to identify and manage sheep differently depending on their needs.
Cost benefit analyses that had been carried out over the years usually returned anywhere from $6 to $8 per head from a gross margin perspective, he said.
Lamb finishing was another area that was considered in analyses, as eID allowed producers to zero in on individual performance.
Mathew Coddington, Roseville Park stud, Dubbo, said the efficiencies that could be gained by using eID were becoming even more important given the direction of the market.
"We're paying 2023 waiver and input costs and this year looking down the barrel of getting 1998 sheep, lamb and cattle prices," he said.
"We've really go to make our staff, our businesses and our enterprises become more efficient.
"Everyone thinks implementing eID is an expensive exercise, but it's those efficiencies that you can get from eIDs that will save you a lot of time and labour."
Charlie Dutton, Wellagalong Pastoral Co, Bathurst, runs a self-replacing Merino flock and began using eID about 20 years ago as part of trials carried out by the Lifetime Ewe Management program.
He continued to use eID ever since and said it was a useful management tool.
"We record all the scanning data and use that to split all the ewes up easily, to box back in for grazing management," he said.
Recording data such as body condition scores while ewes were in the race required no extra work but could bring a big financial return if it was followed up by a change in management, he said.
"I don't know what it costs, maybe $1, 50 cents more," he said.
"You've got to put an NLIS tag in them anyway, it's just being creative about how you use it.
"We sort of fell into it but now I couldn't put a figure on the value to us."
READ MORE:
Rebecca Nadge
Bec is livestock editor for The Land. She has previously worked for Stock & Land in Victoria, the ABC in Kununurra, and newspapers in Kalgoorlie and New Zealand. Contact her at bec.nadge@theland.com.au
Bec is livestock editor for The Land. She has previously worked for Stock & Land in Victoria, the ABC in Kununurra, and newspapers in Kalgoorlie and New Zealand. Contact her at bec.nadge@theland.com.au
