Quilpie, Cunnamulla, Charleville to host sheep, goat eID information sessions

Beginning at Quilpie on August 8 before moving to Cunnamulla on August 9 and Charleville on August 10, the sessions are happening in advance of the state's move to mandatory electronic identification for individual sheep and goats through the National Livestock Identification Scheme.

Under the scheme, all sheep and farmed goats born on or after January 1, 2025 will need to be tagged with an eID before they leave their property of birth.

Saleyard, depot and property-to-property scanning will begin on that date.

By January 1, 2027, the plan is for all sheep and farmed goats to be tagged with an eID if moved from their property of residence.

The visual tag system and mob-based movements will no longer be allowed, and all industry sectors will be required to scan sheep or farmed goats with eID devices.

The move to make the scheme compulsory, and the costs associated with it, have been the subject of a lot of debate already, especially among goat producers with minimal management inputs.

AgForce Sheep Wool and Goats president Steven Tully has called for an incentive of 50 per cent of the cost of electronic identification tags from the state government, saying that many parts of the industry would benefit from the traceability that compulsory tags would bring, including governments managing disease incursions, and processors.

All meetings this week run from 9.30 to 11.30am and will be held in the Quilpie and Paroo Shire Halls, and the RSL Memorial Club in Charleville, and attendees are asked to register.

Other confirmed dates include Blackall on August 29, Longreach on August 30, St George on September 5, Goondiwindi on September 6, Inglewood on September 7 and Meandarra on September 8.