In July 2022, NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders announced the state would join a national traceability effort for the movement of sheep and goats in Australia.

The impetus for this national biosecurity plan was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Indonesia and was followed with a $20.1 million Federal Government announcement of funding. At that time Victoria was the only state to mandate the use of electronic identification (eID) ear tags in sheep and goats.

Now, under the National Livestock Identification System, sheep and farmed goats born after January 1, 2025 will require an eID tag before leaving a property, and from January 1, 2027 all farmed sheep and goats will require an eID tag.

According to NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin, 80 per cent of NSW sheep and goat producers were not using eID at present, meaning there would need to be significant state and federal financial assistance to assist in the transition.

Mr Martin said that sum the government had promised was nowhere near enough as it had to be shared between all states and territories.

“There will potentially be less than $10 million from the Commonwealth to support NSW producers, and Commonwealth funds are dependent on a NSW Government co-contribute, so our state will also need to make a substantial investment,” Mr Martin said.

“Farmers are rightly becoming increasingly concerned about the costs associated with implementing eID for sheep and goats, following Minister Saunders’ mandating of the traceability system last year,” Mr Martin said.

“While the NSW Government’s timeline is public, it remains unknown what financial support will be made available to farmers so they can implement eID as they are now required to do.

“We asked farmers how much this will cost them and what training, education and support they need, and it’s clear both levels of government will need to open their wallets.”

Farmer Billy Porter of Carinda said he has run Merino sheep all his life but the introduction of compulsory eID tags is one reason he may look to sell them. With a current holding of 2400 sheep, the costs to adhere to the eID timeline will be an issue.

 "At the moment a tag costs around 40 cents," Mr Porter said. "The new tags will cost over $4 each, not to mention the extra gear required. It adds up to quite a big cost."

Mr Porter is sceptical of the scheme as when he had cattle with eID's, he was aware of many being "lost through the system".

"Its not foolproof," he said. "With sheep, they get in among the trees and will lose the tags a lot more easily than cattle do. I'm not computer orientated and it will be hard to adjust to."

Mr Porter said most farmers he knows are not happy with the compulsory tagging requirements.

"I'm against it," he said. "I think most people are. It's going to be a huge headache."

Mr Porter said the difficult in finding shearers was also a big industry issue.

"We can't find them anywhere, " he said. "Between that and the tags, I'm considering getting rid of my sheep."

Non electronic ID tags will be a thing of the past for sheep by January 2025.