The applicant would be required to share what they have learned from the experience with other producers, including participating in a case study.
The Department of Agriculture and Food is on the hunt for a stud sheep breeder to ‘test drive’ electronic identification technology and evaluate its value to their business.
The 18-month trial of the technology is part of a Sheep Industry Business Innovation project to encourage sheep producers to adopt new technology to boost the productivity and profitability of their sheep flocks.
Department research officer John Paul Collins said the trial was a great opportunity for any ram breeder thinking about investing in electronic identification (EID) technology.
“The department will establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the successful applicant in the early stages, including paying for the hire of an electronic identification reader, as well as enough ear tags to get started,” Mr Collins said.
“It will also provide a consultant to assist the producer to capture, record and apply the data generated by the technology.
“In return, the applicant would be required to share what they have learned from the experience with other producers, including participating in a case study as well as sharing what they have learnt at field days.”
Mr Collins the trial would provide a valuable, first-hand insight into the opportunities and obstacles of adopting EID technology.
“The applicant will be able to use the EID technology to help collect whatever information they require to assist in achieving their breeding objective, whether they want to focus on wool traits, like clean fleece weight and fibre diameter, and/or meat traits, such as fat and eye muscle,” he said.
“As part of the process the breeder will also be introduced to the Sheep Genetics Australia program and how to collect data to provide Australian Sheep Breeding Values to their clients.”