EID CAN be a useful tool in deterring rustlers as well as offering productivity and paperwork benefits, according to an Aberdeenshire sheep producer.

Roddy Scarborough, from Huntly, has been successfully using EID in his flock of 1600 ewes and 300 hoggs for five years and at a recent meeting of the Moray and Nairn monitor farm, he encouraged fellow farmers to think positively about the technology.

Said Mr Scarborough: “I originally bought this system just to record sheep movements, but it has also helped deter thieves. In the past I had lost quite a few sheep, but once news got round that my sheep were EID-ed with boluses, the thieving stopped.”

Mr Scarborough uses a hand-held reader, downloading all information to his computer.

His flock of Cheviot cross Shetland ewes are wintered away, and moved three times a year. Lambs are tagged before they go to the hill and useful information – for example gender, whether they are twins or triplets – is fed into the reader at the same time

The system comes into its own with its ability to track and cross reference a whole range of information, including veterinary medicine use. Mr Scarborough said: “If I’ve treated a sheep with medication and want to trade it before the withdrawal period has completed, the computer flashes up a warning and for things like farm assurance inspections, all the records needed are on the computer. You just have to remember to put the right information in at the start.

“When I put a bunch of sheep to the hill, I run them through the race, so the race reader transmits the numbers to the hand held. Then, when I bring them back, if some are missing, the reader gives me the numbers of the ones that have gone astray. I’m learning that there is a lot more potential to make life easier and better thanks to using this system.”