THE Victorian Farmers Federation Livestock Group is determined to negotiate the best outcome for livestock producers following the State Government’s decision to introduce mandatory electronic identification (eID) tags in sheep and goats born after January 1 2017.
“We will be working hard to ensure farmers and other stakeholders will not face additional cost by this decision of government to mandate electronic tags in sheep and goats.
“Livestock producers need a guarantee that they won’t be disadvantaged by the cost of fitting electronic tags to their stock,” VFF Livestock President Leonard Vallance said.
“The State government has offered to invest in eIDs for the first year, but this investment by government needs to be guaranteed for the long term.
“The State Government’s tag tender system is a well proven method of sustaining low cost tags as is evident in the cattle industry.
“Governments – State and Federal – need to remember they have a community obligation to contribute to the cost of traceability when it comes to major livestock disease outbreaks that affect everyone – not just farmers.
“The VFF still believes the most effective way of implementing electronic tags is to have a consistent approach that’s affordable to farmers and well supported by industry” Mr Vallance said.
“But as it stands, we are determined to negotiate the best possible outcome for livestock producers to guarantee there’s no impact on livestock operations across Victoria due to the Government’s initiative.”
“We will make it clear to government that the cost of post farm gate eID infrastructure must not be imposed on farmers.”