First state to subsidise cost of new ID tags for sheep producers

The Western Australian government reacted to a virtual meeting of state, Territory and Federal agriculture ministers on Friday which discussed the mandatory rollout.

The WA government quickly provided $3.4 million to support the introduction.

There are more than 14 million sheep in WA.

The number of sheep nationally has been falling but still number around 68 million.

Sheep numbers in the other states are: SA 11.2m, NSW 21.5m, Victoria 17m, Queensland 2m, Tasmania 2.7m.

The WA funding will include new scanners at saleyards and other key livestock congregation points plus an electronic tag subsidy for producers.

The details of that subsidy were not revealed.

The cost of tags remains a major issue for producers.

When Victoria made tags mandatory, the prices were pegged at less than $1 per animal but the cost of electronic readers and equipment to attach the tags add greatly to the cost.

Australia's industry and government leaders have committed to a national traceability network for sheep and goats as there has been for cattle since 2005.

EID for sheep has been mandatory in Victoria since 2017.

MORE READING: Preparing for a possible FMD outbreak.

The federal government has already pledged $46 million to be split into $20 million for implementation and $26 million for infrastructure, including a database, to help the sector reach a 2027 target for all livestock to be donning electronic identification tags.

Lambs will be the first to receive the electronic tags by the 2025 deadline.

The aim is to then work backwards and have all other livestock tagged by 2027, while completion of a national database was aimed for January 1, 2025.

The danger posed by devastating animal diseases like foot and mouth has sped up national plans.

Electronic ID tags will help in the response to an outbreak but crucially will more quickly restore access to export markets.

NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said there is a strong mandate to implement a national EID system.

In announcing the funding on Friday, WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said disease threats like FMD highlight the importance of digital traceability to rapidly respond to a disease incursion.

"Electronic tagging is a must in the 21st century, to better protect our producers and industry," she said.

"WA's sheep industry is reliant on exports, so we must have modern traceability systems in place to support access, and help promote our world-class production systems to markets."

Most of Australia's wool (98 per cent), and 70 per cent of sheep meat is exported.

Minister MacTiernan said the government agencies have been working with industry to understand the infrastructure requirements and technical aspects of moving to an electronic system.

"This is an important investment to kickstart this process, and the McGowan Government will consider further funding to support the implementation of this new EID-based traceability system," she said.

"WA is one of the first jurisdictions to have funding approved to kickstart this work, and we are confident we will receive additional funding from the Commonwealth."