Scottish government launches consultation on electronic cattle ear tags

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on plans to fit all newborn calves with Electronic identification (eID) tags.

The proposals aim to modernise how Scotland’s cattle are tagged, identified and traced.

Farmers and businesses are being encouraged to fit all new-born calves with electronic ear-tags.

The tags should allow cattle keepers to collect and store information in their cattle more accurately.

It's hoped that this bovine traceability should also help to prevent the spread of diseases, protecting both animal and public health.

Robert Neill, a cattle farmer on Upper Nesbit Farm, just outside Jedburgh, has been using electric tags to keep track of his herd since 2007.

"So low frequency was initially what we started with here, but the, problem with low frequency is the chips are not that big memory can you store a certain amount of numbers.

"Ultra high frequencies have got more capacity, more memory, you can store medicine records, you can do movements - the list is endless to what you can store in that tag.

"But we need to mandate this and take the chore of handling and working with cattle.

Martin Kennedy from NFU Scotland said they will improve health and safety: "It's far safer as you can read them from a distance.

"We've got 100% read-rates consistently with ultra high frequency.

"For animal health and welfare, for disease control, all things are the benefits that UHF can bring.

Mister for Agriculture, Jim Fairlie MSP said: "Anything that makes life easier and allows you to capture more data that you need as a farmer has got to be a benefit.

"I think the important thing from the government's point of view, is that the industry gets absolutely involved in the consultation.

"It's got the be industry wide, if the the industry don't buy into it, then we don't get the kind of success that we're looking for.

"So we need the industry to get involved so that we know exactly what it is that we want to deliver."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...