Last year, August 2021, saw the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, announce the decision to proceed with mandatory electronic identification (EID) for cattle. Details of a financial support package to assist farmers in the move towards mandatory EID for cattle were also discussed.
Payments for EID cattle tags will be calculated on the number of new EID tag sets purchased from January 1, 2022, at a rate of €1 for each new EID tag set. There is a maximum payment of €100 per farmer over the life of the scheme. No application process is required.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the scheme is “proportionately weighted in favour of smaller producers”.
The two-stage Bovine EID implementation is:
From January 1, 2022, all approved bovine tag suppliers are required to supply an EID tag with all new tag orders. Each new tag set will include one EID tag and one tissue tag. EID tags will be white in colour. The colour of conventional and tissue tags will remain yellow;
From July 1, 2022, it will be a legal requirement on herd keepers to officially identify all newborn calves with a tag set containing an EID tag.
According to the DAFM, mandatory bovine EID will offer “substantial improvements” in the bovine identification system for farmers, livestock marts, slaughter plants, export assembly centres and vets. “It will lead to a safer working environment for all stakeholders with less reliance on manual checking of bovine tag numbers.”
LSL News.