Take the next step with electronic ID

At a glance

• The use of electronic identification (eID) also known as radio frequency identification (RFID) is increasing within sheep breeding industries.
• The eID program allows each individual in a flock to be measured and monitored throughout its lifetime using electronic data capture.
• eID has applications across the sheep industry.
• There is significant potential for labour savings through improved animal handling as well as data collection, retention and re-use.

Within commercial sheep enterprises eID introduces an entirely new level of management precision based upon individual animals.

For example for the stud breeder, performance recording using electronic identification enables the collection of vast amounts of data both more accurately and more efficiently.

A short course has been designed for sheep breeders to increase their understanding of the technology, data collection and analysis.

The course ‘Using eID for Sheep Management and Breeding’ is being offered nationwide for the first time by the Sheep Cooperative Research Centre (Sheep CRC) through licensed training providers.

Participants will develop the skills and confidence to effectively implement eID within their enterprise. By the end of the course participants will have developed an eID plan for their enterprise.

The Sheep CRC is a collaboration of industry, government and the commercial sector, which is working to increase productivity and profitability of the industry through new technologies for adoption by both the meat and wool supply chains.

Where do you start?

To participate in eID training, producers need contact their local course provider to register their interest or to form a group with friends and neighbours.

Course developer Nathan Scott, from Mike Stephens and Associates, said the intensive three-day course is aimed at optimising data collection and management in an operation.

“The training will develop a level of understanding that will allow producers to purchase the right eID equipment components for their particular ram breeding or producer enterprise, with independent advice on what they need,” Mr Scott said.

“It will also ensure that they have a planned approach to data collection and management to make the most of their eID system once they have it up and running.

“The course is equally valuable for those already quite familiar with eID giving them the opportunity to review the use of eID equipment within their operation and define management strategies to best utilise the information they capture.

“This is a very hands-on course that will happen both in the yards and in the office.

“It will teach producers to confidently capture data and then most importantly how to take it back to the office to analyse and return to the yards to implement decisions.

“An eID system makes it possible to maximise production from your top performing sheep and minimise the cost incurred from the poorest performers.”

The format of the course incorporates both group work as well as a one-on-one session with the trainer to address the individual needs of the enterprise.

For more information visit Sheep CRC - Industry Training and DPI's National Livestock Identification System page.

Case study: Benefits of electronic tagging

Ben Duxson

The Tru-test XR3000 Photo: Kondinin Group

The Prattley autodrafter Photo: Kondinin Group

It was the use of the Pedigree Match Maker that encouraged the Duxson family to use of Precision Sheep Management’s e-ID system for their sheep.

Operating at their Glendemar property, which is located 15km south of Marnoo on the eastern edge of the Wimmera Plains, the Duxsons contemplated the use of RFID tags and equipment for about 10 years prior to making the call to run with it.

The Glendemar flock consists of 3000 stud ewes and produces about 400 sale rams annually.

Two Allflex panel readers, an Allflex stick reader, a Tru-test XR3000 indicator and a Prattley autodrafter are all now used to collect various types of data on those animals.

Ben Duxson illustrates the difference this has made to their enterprise.

“We used to mother-up all of our ewes and lambs in the yards to obtain the dam pedigree. It was a huge job, with us only doing 120–150 a day with three people.

“It would take us 8–10 weeks just to get through all of the ewes.

“With Pedigree Match Maker, once we have the sheep trained to walk through the race properly, the system is so simple it saves us a huge amount of time.”

While it was Pedigree Match Maker that was appealing from the very beginning, the Duxsons are finding advantages in using eID for almost all their data collection.

“We now record all of our individual pregnancy scanning results, lamb weights and have just started to record the condition scores of some of our ewes.

“We will also begin to record carcass and fleece data using our eID equipment as well.

“The auto-drafter has allowed us to weigh our lambs more regularly and easily, and we will certainly be looking to use it to draft our animals based on Australian sheep breeding value (ASBV) data, sire groups or whatever criteria we might decide to use.”

The Duxsons have managed the implementation of their eID system to ensure there has been little disruption to the enterprise.

“We had a few issues as we learned to operate the equipment, but it has generally been pretty good,” Ben said.

“We do rely on the Tru-test representative for help with the XR3000 fairly regularly. Data management has been the biggest issue though, particularly understanding what Excel will do with our data.

“We are using Stockbook software and we are working through the issues that we have had.

“It will just be a case of me spending more time to understand the process better.”

As for the overall move into eID, Ben said there is no turning back. “It has made our life so much easier, particularly with Pedigree Match Maker,” he said.

The Duxsons intend to continue to increase and improve their use of eID equipment.

“We are tagging everything at lamb marking now with RFID tags and we will look to record a range of different data.

“We will collect more and more data as long as it will have a positive impact on our business.”