Farmers asked to tag along to meet
Farmers and crofters are being consulted about a revolutionary electronic identification (EID) system to track and monitor Scotland’s cattle herd during a nationwide roadshow which is visiting Stirling next month.
The series of meetings will give the farming community the chance to find out more details on the current proposal for Scottish Cattle EID.
The system, which looks set to become mandatory in 2021, will use state-of-theart technology contained in a chip within the animal ear tag. It will allow for scanning cattle in “batches”, meaning less handling, particularly useful for large herd owners and to smooth processes at marts and abattoirs. It will also spell the end of paper cattle passports.
ScotEID’s Anna Robertson is meeting with farmers and crofters all over Scotland as part of the major awareness raising exercise.
Anna comes from a farming family near Huntly, in Aberdeenshire and has her own small herd of Charolais cattle so will be among those moving to the new system in the future.
She said: “We are covering the whole of Scotland with our roadshows, which is quite an undertaking, but it’s very important that we’re able to support the industry and explain what’s ahead at a time of change.
“We want farmers to be aware of what’s happening and know the guidelines to what’s ahead in the next 18 months and to support them in that journey.
“This is very much an information sharing meeting, a conversation and a chance to ask questions.”
Following the first wave of consultation meetings which continue until December, additional events will take place from January to March/
Anyone who would like to attend the meetings is asked to contact the ScotEID information centre on 01466 794323 to reserve their place to allow for catering and seating arrangements.
ScotEID manages the database for recording animal movements in Scotland and has designed and developed the new recording system.
It will incorporate births, deaths and movements of cattle, replacing the British Cattle Movement Service’s (BCMS) Cattle Tracing System (CTS) for Scottish cattle keepers and provide an online line service and with the introduction of bovine EID and an Online Herd Register.
The new system embeds data experience from research and development and current data management by ScotEID, with the use of UHF technology bringing a number of new benefits.
The ScotEID database will bring together all farm livestock movement records within one central source and will lead to the removal of paper passports. It will be straightforward to use, and it will improve the speed and accuracy of traceability.
Meetings in Stirling are on Thursday, December 5 at United Auctions at noon and at the Golden Lion Hotel at 7pm.