SA sheep producers still none the wiser on eID roll out

Despite both NSW and WA governments making announcements prior to Christmas, SA producers are none the wiser about whether there will be a phase-in period from the January 1, 2025 start date.

They also don't know how much money the state government - which signed up to the national scheme in July last year - will provide.

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Opposition spokesperson for Primary Industries Nicola Centofanti says there has been a lack of transparency and clarity from Primary Industries & Regional Development Minister Clare Scriven, which was "not good enough".

"What was originally an industry-led initiative has now become government driven and seven months on, we have heard absolutely nothing from the Malinasuskas government," she said.

Any announcement could still be a while away with Ms Scriven saying government's consideration on the development of SA's eID policy will be "released for public consultation later in the year".

Last month, the SA Sheep & Goat Traceability Steering committee, made up of industry stakeholders but largely funded by government, handed down its business case to the Minister and PIRSA. It includes estimated costs across the supply chain for implementation.

Ms Scriven says this has not been made public because it will inform the second phase of the committee's project, which she will use to make her eID decisions.

"It would be premature to release the business case at this time because, while it is an important piece of work, it is one of a number of inputs into the final decision making about eID implementation," she said.

"The steering committee is currently developing a recommended implementation plan that considers all sectors of the industry as well as national consistency."

But Dr Centofanti say it is critical that industry has certainty about this reform.

"It appears Clare Scriven is asking the committee to put the cart before the horse. If the government is not prepared to communicate its commitment to funding or the timeline for a process it has mandated, how can it expect industry to develop an accurate implementation plan?"

There is still plenty of producer opposition to mandatory eID, including some pastoralists who are facing bills of tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars, just to tag their flocks.

Jumbuck Pastoral joint managing director Jock McLachlan says it is an example of the government imposing excessive regulation on industry without knowing the "real costs and extra weight" it puts on growers

"A big part of it is the cost of the tag - $1.50 is very different to 25 cents or 30c. It is an increase in burden on the industry at a time when we don't need any extra costs," he said.

As one of Australia's largest woolgrowers Mr McLachlan says the less than two-year period until the January 1, 2025 start date is unrealistic. He says the implementation phase must be across five or six years, if at all.

"There is a large enough lead time required for ordering the current non RFID tags so there is a big question whether the electronic tags would be ready for when we need them," he said.

"Our stations are run by a calendar of events, we normally put the tags in at lamb marking so if they are not available then, it will really add to the costs."

Mutooroo Pastoral Company managing director James Morgan describes it as an "ideological decision".

He acknowledges the benefits of using electronic tags in their stud for identifying top performing animals across a range of traits and says they have been doing this for some time, but he strongly opposes having to tag their commercial flock.

Instead of the few cent cost of a visual tag with their PIC numbers on it, the company, which owns several stations in the north east pastoral area of SA, are facing an estimated $90,000 annual bill for tagging the 45,000 lambs born each year.

It will also be far more difficult than the government realises to tag large numbers of mature ewes if required.

"When key players such as Ag Ministers - both Liberal and Labor but particularly Labor - make these decisions, they are often driven by unrealistic behaviour and talking about the perfect scenario. It is one thing for them to say something but then it is left to us to enact it," he said.

Mr Morgan also believes the existing mob-based system provides all the information needed to trace animals back to vendors.

"When lines of lambs are slaughtered, they are in their groups from property of origin. I fail to see how an animal can be traced once it has been slaughtered given the ear tag departs the carcase at that point," he said.

PRODUCERS are being asked to put a $2 tag in the ear of their sheep to assure market access so they "might as well make the best of it", according to Burra's Michelle Cousins.

For two decades, Cousins Merino Services has been helping growers use eID in their sheep flocks but she says there has been a significant spike in adoption in the past couple of years.

"Previously it was mainly studs and a few commercial ones using it but a lot of commercial producers have come on board in the last two years to identify their more profitable animals and make informed decisions about their least valuable animals," she said.

"We are also seeing quite a bit of enquiry from people starting to tag their young sheep knowing that it will be in place in 2025 (mandatory eID) and wanting to be ready."

Mrs Cousins says producers need to have a clear goal when collecting the data and recommends they start with just a couple of traits.

"It depends how comfortable you are with new technology, you may want to keep it simple and start with a stick reader," she said.

"You can also hire equipment if you are not 100 per cent sure what you want and look at what others are using before you buy anything."

Many producers are using eID tags to record a full animal health history on each animal in their flocks and she sees it is a great tool to help producers improve the resilience of their businesses.

"We need to be adaptive and manage our flocks better through periods of droughts, floods and anything else that may come along. If we are able to identify the more productive animals we can make sure we are retaining the best performing animals so we can get back to where we were going quicker," she said.