Shropshire farmer hits out at lamb tagging rules

Farmers in Shropshire have hit out at plans introduced by Defra, which mean lambs set for slaughter must be tagged electronically instead of with a normal solid tag.

The move will send the cost of tagging lambs from about 14p per animal to 70p and the National Farmers' Union predicts it could cost the industry upwards of £1.8 million.

John Parry, who has a flock of 700 breeding ewes near RAF Cosford in Shropshire, said the scheme will impact heavily on his costs.

He said: "We are talking about a 60-odd pence difference, and that's quite an extra cost when you are selling 1,000 lambs a year.

"It's a big extra cost for very little purpose, as it could only be in the sheep for a few hours before they are slaughtered. This is an unnecessary tax on the sheep industry, and for most people it is a tax on their personal income."

The NFU's Shropshire county adviser Helen Cork, who leads on livestock, said: "Shropshire farmers have coped through difficult trading conditions and this announcement comes at a time when some businesses have seen incomes drop by nearly 50 per cent over the last year.

"We have been clear with Defra that the last thing livestock producers now need is to see a rise in tagging costs. Unfortunately the calls from the NFU and other farming organisations appear to have fallen on deaf ears although Defra has listened to some of our concerns and have delayed bringing it until 2015.

"However, there is no getting away from the fact that the vast majority of our sheep farmers will just view this as a further burden on the industry."

She added: "Now Defra has made the decision to remove the non-electronic tag entirely, ministers must grant a fair tolerance to prevent farmers from cross-compliance fines if the technology fails. This is already happening in other EU countries and there is no reason why this should not be implemented in the UK too.

"Defra must also focus on ensuring a smooth implementation of the new sheep database next spring."