Minister McConalogue has announced details of a financial support package to assist farmers in the move to mandatory bovine EID.
The minister announced a financial package to the tune of €4.25 million to assist with the transition earlier this afternoon.
The DAFM will implement Bovine EID in two stages:
- From January 1st, 2022: All approved bovine tag suppliers will be required to supply an EID tag with all new tag orders. Each new tag set will include one EID tag and one tissue tag. EID tags will be white in colour. The colour of conventional and tissue tags will remain yellow.
- Also, from July 1st, 2022, it shall be a legal requirement for herd keepers to officially identify all new-born calves with a tag set containing an EID tag.
The minister believes the move will deliver a “substantial” improvement in the bovine identification system for:
- Farmers;
- Livestock marts;
- Slaughter plants;
- Export assembly centres;
- Vets.
In a statement this afternoon, Friday, November 5th, 2021, the minister said:
“This initiative aligns with and supports the Food Vision 2030 objective that Ireland will become a world leader in sustainable food systems, enhancing consumer trust in our food systems.”
“Further, it will lead to a safer working environment for all stakeholders with less reliance on manual checking of bovine tag numbers and herd keepers and livestock marts.”
He said it will “save time that is currently involved in making amendment applications associated with the misreading of animals and mismatched passports when cattle are moving off the holding”.
Mandatory bovine EID support
From January 1st, 2022, new EID tag sets will be white in colour and will be eligible for funding under a tag subvention scheme.
The DAFM intends to operate the scheme over 3 years (2022 to 2024 inclusive). The first payments, amounting to €2.25 million, are scheduled in Quarter 4 2022.
It will calculate payments in 2022 on the number of new EID tag sets purchased from January 1st, 2022, at a rate of €1 per new EID tag set.
“There is a maximum payment of €100 per farmer over the life of the scheme. Furthermore, no application process will be required.”
“The scheme is proportionately weighted in favour of smaller producers. Farmers can only order annually the number of new tag sets required commensurate to the number of breeding females in the herd.”
Eligible payment examples:
- Farmer purchasing 30 new EID tag sets each year will be eligible for payment of €30 in each year of the 3 years of the scheme;
- Farmer purchasing 100 new EID tags in year 1 will be eligible for payment of €100 in year 1. However, they will not be eligible for further payments in years 2 or 3.
Update existing stocks
Concluding, McConalogue urged cattle herd keepers to use up all existing stocks of tags.
“Only white EID tags can be used to officially identify and register calves born on or after July 1st, 2022.”
