SCOTLAND'S cattle farmers will have to comply with compulsory electronic identification (EID) from the summer of 2021, though a voluntary scheme could be up and running by this summer.

At a series of roadshows being organised by Huntly-based ScotEID throughout the country ahead of the EID launch, farmers also heard that it will take over the role for births, deaths and movements in the Scottish national herd currently administered by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), again from mid-summer.

While there appears to be almost universal support for the introduction of EID in cattle – given its many advantages – the proposal has been given a bit of a bumpy ride from a large number of farmers who have worries regarding the method of delivery and also the compatibility of the proposed system with existing management software packages.

A further fly in the ointment is a potential conflict with what is being proposed for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, generating fears of administrative issues with cross-Border trading. At one of the meetings, in Finavon, in Angus, last week, attendees were told that the Scottish system being proposed uses ultra-high frequency (UHF) tagging technology, while almost all farmers who currently use EID tags – mainly for herd management purposes – have tags with low frequency (LF) chips.

At the moment it looks certain that Scotland will adopt the use of UHF tags, though the inside track is that Defra in England will opt for LF tags. That will lead to cattle on either side of the Border literally being on different wavelengths, requiring two types of readers for marts/abattoirs which handle cattle from both administrations. It is also widely acknowledged that the proposal for EID across the EU, will be based on LF tech.

At the Finavon meeting, Adrian Ivory, Strathisla Farms, voiced worries that he could lose 20-years' worth of data because of the change to UHF tags. He currently uses LF tags as management aids which are plugged into all of his various recording systems. "We use a software package to channel all of our data through and the company that supplied it told me that they know nothing about the new EID tags, nor have they been asked if they will be compatible with their software," he told the meeting.

"Computer software providers and developers are confused, especially if we have one system in Scotland and another in other parts of the UK. As far as I know, almost every country that has EID, even just for management purposes, has LF tags. Does this mean that a small country like Scotland, which is going against the grain, will see companies like Tru-Test changing their software just for us? I don't think so," he added.

However, John Gregor, who was hosting the ScotEID meeting, said that by the time compulsory EID in cattle was introduced, then a 'dual tag', with both UHF and LF chips, 'could' be available. This would allow the many advantages of UHF – such as the ability to carry full ID numbers from individuals and be able to be stick-read from 5-6m away – to be merged with the management data systems that farmers already had in place.

The ability of UHF chips to hold more data than LF ones was cited as a main reason that ScotEID had opted for them. "It's important to know that the new UHF tags have WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and that the readers on farms, market and abattoirs can get all the information needed without getting up close or even visually checking the eartag, as is the case at the moment with LF tags," said Mr Gregor.

"Longer term, these EID tags could do away with the need for paper passports, which would be a huge administrative saving for the industry. It's also all about security and ensuring the integrity of the Scotch Beef brand."

Mr Gregor also said that LF chips could experience a 'collision' effect, meaning that false readings between chips was possible. Meanwhile, UHF tags would mean that larger batches of cattle, rather than individuals, could be read at any one time, offering savings in time at marts an abattoirs, as well as giving 'real-time' field movement records.

What the auctioneers say:

H and H's Scott Donaldson, president of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers of Scotland, said that he had heard strong arguments either way in the UHF/LF debate.

"However, we have been told that the UHF tags will be better for mart situations, giving us the ability to read larger numbers of cattle more quickly. That said, it seems a bit strange to many that the sheep tags will remain with low frequency chips and these seem to work quite well.

"We have been told that for cattle there are plans to produce dual tags of UHF and LF technology, which would help farmers – particularly dairy farmers – who have been using LF tags and reading technology for some time, and also help us at markets, where UHF EID should present us with faster recording of the ins and outs from our marts."

John Kyle, managing director of Caledonian Marts, Stirling, hosted an EID demo at that mart, last week. He commented: "The system worked really well, though it's not properly matched up yet to the software system that we and many other marts have.

"On the face of it, then it will save us a lot of clerical work. However, if it's not compatible with the English system, for instance, it could be a recipe for disaster."

What farmers think:

Robert Neill, Upper Nisbet, Jedburgh, did a Nuffield Scholarship based on EID around the world and is part of the stakeholder group tasked with delivering the new system, so is well qualified to comment.

He is adamant that there has to be a dual tag available from the start. "A lot of people have already invested time and money into using LF tagging for their herd management, indeed many have also invested in hardware to go along with EID sheep tags – so why should they have to invest more of their hard-earned cash on additional technology?" he said.

"While I won't rule out the benefits that UHF might have, let's mix and match with the technology that we know already works on the ground. It's also unrealistic to expect software manufacturers to drop everything to rewrite their programmes to meet the expectations of ScotEID. From what I have been told by them, a 2020 start date for the voluntary scheme is unrealistic.

"Apart from everything else, if we go it alone with UHF and the other home nations, as expected, adapt LF chips to fit in with EID – as I think they can be – then it will cause all sorts of administrative problems," added Mr Neill.

Adrian Ivory, of Strathisla Farms, added: "If a dual tag is not available from the outset, then we face hours of administrative work. If the idea that UHF is going to be more efficient is the main reason behind this move, then I can tell you it is not going to be.

"This will add a lot of time and effort for us manually inputting data. It is crucial that the software developers are given time to catch-up and match-up."