SCOTLAND’S MARTS are 99% ready for this autumn’s onslaught of EID tagged lambs, and confident that the new regime will prove to be a boon to the industry in the long run.

Speaking for the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, secretary Andrew Wright predicted that all the hardware, software and expertise needed to make EID-monitored sheep sales work would be in place at the vast majority of Scottish marts by the end of this month.

“We are getting there,” declared Mr Wright. “The pilot by the Scottish Government has helped considerably. The database that it has created is a great benefit to the industry.

“There are one or two issues with the smaller seasonal marts still to resolve, but by the end of this month, all markets with weekly sales will be equipped.

“I’d say we are 99% confident that Scotland’s marts will be equipped to do the data transfer required by the legislation at the start of next year.”

Every mart company had been left to make its own commercial decisions about what system and manufacturer to use, he added.

“There are also still issues with the types of tag being used, and their readability, but that is why we are having this pilot scheme to find these things out.

He also praised the decision to opt for 100% EID tagging: “In England they retained the option of using a non-EID tag – so they still have manual recording to do. We feel that the way it is being implemented in Scotland, with 100% EID, is the correct way, and it will benefit our industry.”

IAAS chairman, John Gregor, also praised the EID manufacturers, who he said had engaged in an ongoing process of evolving their machines based on trials.

“There has been a lot of work by the manufacturers to get these systems working up to the speed required to fit in with the pace of a sheep sale,” said Mr Gregor.

“If we get these Critical Control Points working, Scottish farmers using marts won’t need to do tag reading on farm, because every key movement will be going straight onto the database.”