A mandatory electronic traceability system for sheep and goats New South Wales (NSW) in Australia is being launched despite concern from farmers about costs.

The move is in preparation for the whole of Australia to go electronic for sheep tags by January 1, 2025. To ease the transition, NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty announced $38m (£20m) in joint state-federal funding for individual electronic identification (eID).

NSW Farmers Sheepmeat Committee chair, Jenny Bradley, said the funding was appreciated, but there had to be greater contribution from the Federal Government, and the details had to be closely examined.

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“We expect that all producers who are required to invest in mandatory eID should be able to readily access this funding and receive a rebate so that no one misses out,” Mrs Bradley said.

“The government’s eID rollout is a significant issue for producers, and we welcome progress, however, there still remains a significant need to reduce the cost of eID NLIS devices to economically affordable levels.

“If some states have cheaper tags than others, producers will lose faith in the fairness of the system, and we won’t stand a chance of national harmonisation.”

The funding was not expected to reduce tag costs in NSW, and Mrs Bradley said this was a critical issue that needed to be addressed. She said there had to be funding from the Federal Government to bring down the cost of eID tags.

“NSW Farmers policy seeks eID tags for sheep cost no more than $1 per tag, and more affordable tags is a position broadly agreed to by all other state farming organisations at our meeting in Adelaide last week,” Mrs Bradley said.

“We know tags need to be more affordable and we need flexibility with the NLIS when much lower cost devices become available.

“But the clock is running on the rollout of mandatory eID — sheep and farmed goat producers can’t afford to keep waiting for solutions to this issue of tag costs.

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“We call on the NSW and Australian Governments to initiate a national tag tender to support the reduction of NLIS eID device costs; we need prompt action to initiate a scheme.”

South Eastern state Victoria has been electronic for sheep tags since 2016 which was rolled out with heavy state subsidies. The move was criticised at the time by then federal agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce as too expensive.

The UK has been using electronic tags for their sheep for over 13 years which was rolled out across the EU in 2010.