Sheep and goat owners flock to take up funding

Almost 1.2 million electronic identification (eID) tags have been purchased for sheep and goats since 1 June 2024, ahead of the commencement of mandatory tagging next year.

Any sheep or goats born from 1 January 2025 will need to be tagged with an eID before leaving their property of birth, and from 1 January 2027, all sheep and goats must have an eID tag before leaving any property.

EIDs are a valuable tool, designed to assist in traceability which is important for biosecurity, product integrity and maintaining market access advantages and consumer confidence.

To support industry’s preparation, the Tasmanian and Australian Governments are investing more than $11 million over four years to assist supply chain participants meet the new requirements for electronic tag scanning and uploading of livestock movements to the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database. 

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The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) is applying discounts at the point of sale for tag purchases, giving producers a $1 rebate per tag and a $4 rebate on eligible eID goat leg bands. The Tasmanian tag rebate scheme will close 30 June 2026, or until funding for the scheme is expended.

Tasmanian sheep and goat producers have been steadily purchasing over 60,000 eID tags per week since early June, preparing for the changes to their traceability obligations. 

For many producers, the only change will be switching from a visual tag to an eID. Depending on individual farm operations, other equipment might be needed. To support the transition, the third round of funding for the Sheep and Goat eID Project is now open until 30 June 2025, with $2.3 million in funding for reimbursement on eligible scanning items.

This funding will support sheep and goat producers, agricultural show societies, organisations that run rural livestock events, not-for-profit organisations, local government and mobile veterinarians by providing rebates for eID scanning equipment purchases.

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Producers and owners of sheep and goats can apply for a reimbursement up to 75 per cent (capped at $5,000) for a range of scanning equipment, such as handheld readers, panel readers and eID compatible scale readers.

To date, more than 220 applications for funding for eID scanning equipment has occurred. More than $660,000 has been approved for funding under this scheme, with new applications being lodged daily for funding assistance, demonstrating industry eagerness to make the most of the support available. 

NRE Tas will continue to work with industry participants to understand how to best support the implementation of national mandatory eIDs.

To keep up to date with the rollout, visit the NRE Tas website: www.nre.tas.gov.au/eID.