The NSW Government has today announced a discounting program that will make $1 electronic identification (eID) tags available to NSW sheep and goat farmers.
The discount program will support the state's sheep and goat producers by discounting eID tags for lambs and kids born in 2025.
The tag discount amount will be $0.76 per eID tagging device applied to eligible eID devices purchased between 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025 or until funds are exhausted.
This will ensure there are eID tags available to producers for $1.00.
NSW Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty, made the announcement at the Carcoar Saleyards in the NSW Central West today with Xavier Martin, President of NSW Farmers.
With the discount the Government has now increased its commitment to $41 million to implement mandatory sheep and goat eID.
The new tag program will provide a discount to 2025 NLIS-accredited white eID tags when purchasing from the retailer. This is the largest contribution by any state towards this reform.
The discount will assist farmers as the sheep and goat industry transitions to the use of eID tags from 1 January 2025, and support the implementation of this key industry traceability reform.
The move to eID tags for sheep and farmed goats will ensure more accurate and timely traceability to help reduce the duration and industry impact of any emergency animal disease or residue incident.
eIDs will mean that NSW producers will continue to lead the world in biosecurity safety and maintain their export premiums.
This follows the successful NSW Sheep and Goat eID Rebate Scheme, which provided funding to eligible primary producers, stock and station agents, saleyards and processors to help offset the cost of purchase and installation of eID-related equipment.
Nearly 1700 primary producers have applied for a rebate, totalling over $15 million.
The initial Rebate Scheme supported producers to purchase essential infrastructure including hand-held readers, panel readers and purchase, installation and training for software associated with using eID infrastructure.
The tag discount program and the initial Rebate Scheme are part of the NSW Government's comprehensive biosecurity initiatives designed to protect the NSW economy, environment and community from pests, diseases, weeds and contaminants.
NSW Department of Primary Industries has incorporated feedback from the NSW Sheep and Goat Traceability Reference Group on the design of the program to ensure the experience for producers is as streamlined as possible.
Industry has raised their concerns about tag manufacturers increasing their prices as a result of this assistance. This will be monitored by the NSW Department of Primary Industries to ensure that all of the benefits of this assistance are delivered to the producers.
Once the tag discount program is in place, producers will not have to complete any additional paperwork to participate in accessing discounted tags.
For more information on the implementation of eID for sheep and goats in NSW visit the DPI website and sign up to the NSW sheep and goat eID newsletter.
Key dates for mandatory eID for sheep and farmed goats in NSW
30 June 2024
- Mandatory processor eID scanning and upload
1 January 2025
- Mandatory eID for all sheep and farmed goats born from this date, prior to leaving property of birth
- Mandatory eID scanning and upload by saleyards and depots
- Mandatory eID property-to-property transfers
1 January 2027
- Mandatory eID for all sheep and farmed goats prior to leaving any property
Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty said:
"The NSW Government has invested more than any other jurisdiction in Australia to support the move to eID for sheep and farmed goats.
"To best support our producers and the cost of purchasing eID tags, this discount program will address the concerns we've heard from industry in relation to initial implementation costs.
"We continue to work with industry through the NSW Sheep and Goat Traceability Reference Group, providing a voice across the supply chain in the transition to mandatory eID.
"We in the NSW Government are here to best support our producers, agents, saleyards and processors in the transition to eID."
NSW Farmers President, Xavier Martin said:
"NSW Farmers association wants to thank the Minister for her progress on this important funding announcement to discount the cost of the tags for sheep and goats.
"This mandate scheme, for almost 2 years, has concerned many producers on how they could afford to apply this government mandate.
"Getting this announcement today is really important, it's quite clear from my communication with producers all over the state that there was only a 10% uptake. It's fundamental what the Minister has announced today and that's going to have to be measured year on year to make sure that uptake continues."
