Tag retention in goats a major pitfall in eID transition

That was the message from several industry stakeholders attending the Queensland State Sheep Show in Blackall, who acknowledged that goat producers were likely to cop the worst of it.

As part of the rollout, all sheep or goats born after January 1 2025 will need to be fitted with an accredited NLIS electronic device before they can be moved from a property.

For older sheep and goats eID will become compulsory from 2025 in Tasmania and the Northern Territory, 2026 in Western Australia and 2027 in NSW, Queensland and South Australia.

Electronic identification has been compulsory in Victoria since 2022.

Agforce sheep wool and goats president Stephen Tully said he had heard from one goat producer already using tags that they needed to factor in numerous tag losses.

"They had up to 70 per cent losses over 12 months using three different brands of tags," he said.

"Brands do vary the placement of the tag but the problems are there regardless of which one is used.

"If data is going to a tag, we want to make sure that tag isn't being lost."

Mr Tully said tag retention was just one area where he felt kinks would be still be ironed out next year.

"We would hope that everyone in the supply chain is very understanding and willing to work together while these things are worked through," he said.

Elders QLD and NT state wool manager Bruce McLeish said they were working with clients to help them implement eID across their operations.

"What we're passionate about is making sure that we take full advantage of this system... that we're getting some value out of it," he said.

"If growers can get some advantage by collecting data to further their business, it will take a bit of the sting out of it.

Mr McLeish said that tag losses both for sheep and goats were a major concern.

"There are tag retention issues for sheep but there are even more for goats," he said.

"The way to solve this is with research into what is causing the losses and how retention can be improved and that should be something the governments puts some funding into."