Field day on benefits of electronic identification

ear-tagAgriculture Victoria has drawn together a diverse range of expert speakers to deliver a producer focused field day on 16 November highlighting the business benefits from using sheep and goat individual electronic identification (EID).

Northgate Park owners Penny and Jason Trompf will host the event at Greta in the state’s North-East, with Jason also presenting on the key topic; ‘turning potential into profit’.

“I am looking forward to sharing our experiences of increasing sheep flock productivity by using EID to collect data to inform management decisions on farm to improve the performance of our sheep,” Mr Trompf said.

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) Managing Director Richard Norton will also speak during the day on MLA Integrity Systems with a focus on supporting the lamb value chain and building consumer trust.

Agriculture Victoria’s Director Sheep Electronic Identification Warren Straw – who will present the rationale for the introduction of sheep and goat electronic identification in Victoria – said interest had moved on from what producers have to do, to how they can now use individual electronic identification to make genuine business improvements.

More than 480 producers received grants to co-fund the purchase of optional scanning equipment from the $17 million EID transition package. Producer grants have driven around $2.4 million worth of additional investment in the industry.

“The success of the funding program indicates there is a genuine interest in the potential productivity and flock management gains from individual animal electronic identification.”

The upcoming field day offers a great opportunity for sheep producers to hear from Agriculture Victoria’s top livestock experts, including BestWoolBestLamb Project Leader Lyndon Kubeil, Research Scientist Lamb Production Nick Linden, Sheep and Beef Senior Specialist Tim Hollier and Red Meat Value Chain Development Officer Kate McCue.

Other speakers will include:

  • Pregnancy scanner Brendan Roberson speaking on using electronic identification to collect and manage pregnancy data
  • Livestock contractor Jack Briscoe will discuss equipment options for capturing the benefits of electronic identification on-farm; and
  • Nuffield Scholar Hannah Marriott who will speak on increasing reproductive efficiency through linking lambs and dams