Is EID a useful tool or a hindrance to sheep farmers?

Is electronic identification of sheep of any use to farmers, or merely an extra piece of legislation they could do without? Caroline Stocks asks four producers to find out.

Claire Williams

Beili Ficer Farm, Llansawel Llandeilo

• Farms 225 acres with husband Sion on a tenancy arrangement, rents another 150 acres and owns 20 acres
• 1,200-head mixed flock of Texel Mule and Aberdale ewes

How do you use EID?

We have started tagging everything from birth so we can have complete movement and health records throughout an animal’s life. We run three flocks and are interested in premium lamb production, so we are using it to look at how different breeds and soils are performing. From data last year, we were finding that some of the Charollais ewe lambs were too fat, so we looked at a different variety. We also get information back from the slaughter – we can then make decisions very quickly based on that data.

What are the advantages?

It depends on the business. If you’re a pedigree breeder, it can give you a complete family tree. It can help you keep track of ease of lambing and if ewes are milking well.

We are looking for the quality of the carcasses, so we use information from the abattoir and when the lambs go in we can track them. Plants can have breakdowns, but now we can track our carcasses and be sure it’s our lambs we are getting paid for. With the tags we use, we have had 100% efficiency on the data coming back from the abattoir, though we know of others who have not had similar success.

What are the disadvantages?

Having technical support is paramount. When you’re on a farm, you’re on your own and the early days are scary. The more you use it though, the more confident you become.

We have to re-tag a lot of older ewes, which takes time, but once it’s done, it’s done. I can’t see how it would work for lambing outside though. We lamb inside so we can tag everything while it’s captured. It’s time-consuming, but in our control. It can never be a completely accurate system as there are times when the tags are defective or sheep lose them. But while it’s not a complete answer, it’s pretty close.

How can farmers take advantage of EID technology?

It’s still early days. It would be good if all farmers used it for tracking animal movements, but I can’t see the older generation using it. It’s a confidence thing – you have got to be educated about the benefits it can give you. We are trying different flocks so it gives us the ability to get accurate information about each of them, but it’s only as good as the information you put into it.

It’s allowing us to do more to help the retailer – if they are looking for certain aspects of husbandry or doing trials, we can give them that information.

What role does EID play in health planning?

It’s certainly good for meat withdrawal. If you have injected a batch of lambs it will flash up to say meat is in retention. What we really want to use it for is lame ewes – they are usually repeat offenders, so we can see if they have already been treated.

It’s hard on the health side on an individual basis when you are out on the field because the reader is so big. But if you do it in batches, you can zap them as a group, which is better.

Michael Fox

Bramcote Mains Farm, Wolvey, Warwickshire

• 1,600 pedigree Charmoise and Dorset sheep spread across two flocks

How are you using EID?

Everything gets tagged from birth so we know how easy it was to lamb, its ability to suckle, its weight and so on. I’ve only been working on this farm for a couple of months, so its helping me learn about the flock – anything I need to know, I type into the computer and it brings up all the information on the animal. It helps me find previous health problems, so I can see how it responded to treatment and what worked with it.

What are the benefits of using EID?

I have worked on other farms where they only tag the animals as they are leaving the farm for the slaughterhouse. On a pedigree unit like this, tagging at birth is beneficial because you can keep up with the health of the sheep, and find out what bred and sold well. But it definitely has uses on a commercial flock too. You can track everything you are doing and identify where any problems might be.

Are there any negatives?

It could be off-putting for older farmers if they don’t understand the technology. Lots of them don’t want to embrace it, but then they don’t want to do the paperwork either. If they actually had a go they’d see the benefits.

Carrying the reader around can be a hassle and sometimes the batteries run out, but there are ways around it. We move and deal with sheep in blocks, so I know I can come back to the office and record what we did in which block.

How could farmers be making better use of EID?

I think a lot of farmers forget tagging is the law and it’s here to stay, so they may as well find a benefit from having to do it.

Some people say they are put off by problems with the tags coming out, but out of 1,600, we only get three or four tags coming out each year. I always make sure I tag closer to their heads than the centre of the ear. That way there’s less chance of the tag getting snagged on a fence.

Josh Braid

Kipperknowle Farm, Dinmore Manor Estate, Hereford

• Josh is head shepherd at Dinmore Manor Estate, Hereford, running 1,200 ewes, including his own 300-ewe flock

• Has applied for his first council smallholding and is awaiting the outcome

How do you use EID?

I don’t use it. I only tag replacement ewe lambs, but I’m not doing any recording because of the retention of the tags. They are just not secure enough. I send 200 yearlings away for eight months of the year and 30-40% come back without their tags. It’s a waste of time and money. I have a system of ear notches, which is a secure system.

Can you see there would be benefits to using EID in your flock?

If the tags stayed in I would look into it more because it would be a sound investment. I’m more labour-intensive than other systems because I lamb outdoors and taking the time to tag everything would be too much. A pedigree flock would definitely see advantages because they could register the family details, but for a large commercial flock, I don’t see the use.

What problems would you need to be overcome before you would consider using it?

The poor tag retention means I can’t see the point of EID. If they lose their tags it’s a big cost in time and money. The notching system I use is easier, cheaper and safer – I know how it works and can quickly identify the problems a sheep has had from its ear markings.

Philip Derryman

Honiton, Devon

• 450 pedigree Hampshire Down, Romney and Suffolk breeding females

How do you use EID?

We don’t use any software. At the moment, we haven’t got enough numbers to warrant the software. When we get greater numbers of sheep, I can see it would be a really cool tool to select families and breed ewe replacements, but at the 400-ewe mark I can’t justify the investment.

What would be the benefits of using EID?

On a farm looking to breed their own replacements it’s a really good tool for tracking a sheep’s life, but for a commercial sheep farm that’s purchasing replacements and selling primestock, I can’t see any benefit. You are just producing fat lambs that are going to the abattoir and there’s not always any extra information that you can get back.

Are you interested in finding out more about EID and other technology available to sheep producers? Why not attend this year’s NSA Sheep Event on 4 July at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern. More information about the event online.