Cattle, deer tracing improves after crackdown

Farmers are keeping better track of livestock after fines for noncompliance rose sharply last year.

Data from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) shows that use of the National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) system improved after changes were made to strengthen the scheme and boost compliance.

MPI director of compliance Gary Orr said the improvement was particularly encouraging at this time of year, as many dairy farmers were shifting their cows between farms around the industry’s annual moving day.

By law, anyone in charge of cattle or deer must be registered with Nait and tag the animals with Nait-approved ear tags.

The animals’ movements must then be recorded and confirmed in the Nait system.

From January to March this year, 77 per cent of animals were registered correctly, a 24 per cent increase over the same period in 2019, Orr said.

Seventy-five per cent of animal movements were recorded within the 48-hour time frame allowed, a jump of 11 per cent over the same period in 2019.

And 98.7 per cent of animals slaughtered were tagged, up 0.3 per cent on the previous year.

Late last year the fine for not recording animal movements in the Nait system increased from

$150 to $400 per animal.

The maximum non-compliance penalties rose from $10,000 to

$100,000 for farmers and from

$20,000 to $200,000 for corporations. Orr said farmers now had ‘‘quite an incentive’’ to follow the rules. ‘‘While the fines are not the only driver, we believe these, along with significant communication with farmers, have seen some good improvements in Nait behaviour. There is, however, still room for improvement.’’

Since the beginning of this year, 436 infringements have been issued for Nait offences and more than 800 warnings given.

‘‘Our ability to manage biosecurity threats such as Mycoplasma bovis and other diseases of cattle or deer is heavily dependent on being able to rapidly and accurately trace animal movements,’’ Orr said.

Following a review of the Nait system after the M bovis outbreak in 2018, significant changes were made. They included assigning Nait numbers to a location rather than a person, making the Nait system more user-friendly, and developing a mobile app.

The Nait Amendment Bill was passed in December last year.

Further rules will be introduced on June 14.

Late last year the fine for not recording animal movements in the Nait system increased from $150 to $400 per animal.