A controversial scheme to tag and trace cattle and deer could trigger a hi-tech revolution boosting farm productivity and profit, according to some in the industry. But any sea change is unlikely to happen overnight reports Stuff.

Farmers are required to tag all deer and cattle with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips by the middle of 2011 after Cabinet approved the second-stage business case for the National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) scheme. Stock movements will be recorded in a database to track animals during outbreaks of disease and to tell consumers where meat comes from.

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NAIT – asset or liability?

The National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) Scheme has been given approval to proceed by Cabinet. The scheme has been promoted on the basis of two key criteria. The first is increased biosecurity effectiveness, but initially covering only cattle and deer. The second being market access for NZ beef and venison products.

Federated Farmers does not endorse this second and, seemingly, final business case or its presentation to Cabinet reports Scoop. While it’s acknowledged that during the design and consultation period, the concerns of Federated Farmers and its membership were recognised and some key issues addressed, the final business case document fails to provide sufficient confidence that real on-farm value will be generated as a result of NAIT. Moreover, at a time when farmers are just recovering financially, this will add an additional cost and compliance burden alongside the Emissions Trading Scheme and early proposals for a Land Tax. The 2009 Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry’s Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture & Forestry had farms receiving just 6.3 cents out of each export dollar generated.

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Indications from one of NZ’s key export markets could see sheep included in the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme sooner rather than later reports Rural News. George Lyon, a Member of European Parliament for Scotland, has called on the European Commission to make it compulsory for countries from outside the EU to meet the same traceability standards as EU member states before imports are allowed.

Lyon says he wants the Commission to protect consumers and farmers from the threat of diseases, such as Foot and Mouth, by requiring non-EU states to enforce the same level of traceability as will be required across the EU when its electronic identification (EID) comes into effect early next year. ‘As of next year sheep farmers across Europe will be required to adhere to strict traceability rules. It is only fair that imports from other countries be required to meet the same standards.

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Deer farmers at their national conference heard speakers call for an individual animal identification system, saying if the farming industry doesn’t get on with it, it could lose overseas markets reports The Manawatu Standard. They said it should not be put in the “too hard basket”, as there is  technology already available that could be used for sheep, deer and cattle. Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly said he is a solid supporter of a NAIT, which stands for National Animal Identification and Tracing. It is all about an animal identification system that links people, property and animals. NAIT will keep track of where farmed animals are and where they have been.

But some farmers and Federated Farmers, after first supporting NAIT, are saying such a traceability system is not required for overseas markets and are questioning whether the benefits of the scheme outweigh the costs of implementing it. Feds president Don Nicolson said: “It’s not clear that having a new Wellington bureaucracy forcing farmers to have a number plate on every sheep, cow, or deer, is going to be worth it. “If farmers think individually identifying animals is a profitable idea, then they will do that anyway.”

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