An electronic ear tag on its own in livestock is not of much use but the data collected from these tags can make it a valuable management tool, Achieve Ag Solutions' Nathan Scott says.
But his advice to producers is to first have a clear goal of a few traits they want to measure, rather than collecting huge amounts of data they never use.
RELATED: High prices drive eID interest
Mr Scott will be a guest speaker at three upcoming Livestock Technology Expos; Hawker on February 16; Wudinna on February 18 and Karoonda on March 9, which will include tech talks and a range of trade displays.
The Vic-based consultant will discuss options for producers to collect and manage data themselves or work with data management companies on accessing this information.
The uptake of eID in the livestock industry has been slow, even in cattle where the tags have been compulsory for years for the National Livestock Idendification System, but Mr Scott urges producers who may have ruled out eID on past experience to have another look with some big improvements in readers and software compatibility in the past seven or eight years.
There are gains to be made but how much that is comes down to the individual enterprise type, individual locations and the manager as to what they can achieve with it
- NATHAN SCOTT, Achieve Ag
"We have been able to take the technology used in supermarket bar codes and the tap and go in your credit card and make that available for the livestock industry," he said.
He hopes producers will use his presentations to make an informed decision on eID
"There are gains to be made but how much that is comes down to the individual enterprise type, individual locations and the manager as to what they can achieve with it," he said.
"For those with self-replacing flocks, the benefits in making breeding decisions could be cumulative over years but for others it could be more instant feedback on their pastures and nutrition. They may, for example, be able to see at pregnancy scanning ewes that last year had twins are this year only scanning singles, which may be feed related."
The Livestock Technology Expos are being presented by the Red Meat & Wool Growth Program.
- Details: pir.sa.gov.au/redmeatandwool
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