The Andrews Labor Government is introducing new traceability technology on livestock across the state – further safeguarding Victoria’s agriculture industry from emergency animal diseases.
Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney announced a $365,000 investment to support the installation of the scanning technology at 26 saleyard and abattoir sites.
In partnership with Allfex Australia and Shearwell Australia, the system will be able to record the details of individual animals as they move through the gate from electronic identification ear tags and panel readers.
The information is automatically uploaded to the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database eliminating manual data entry – significantly reducing costs for farmers while transporting their livestock.
Improving the speed and quality of data uploaded to the NLIS enhances Victoria’s ability to trace the movement of livestock during an emergency animal disease event.
Victoria leads the nation in livestock traceability, being the first state to introduce mandatory electronic identification for sheep and goats, an initiative soon to be adopted Australia wide.
Protecting the state’s biosecurity is a top priority for the Labor Government, investing $17.5 million to emergency animal disease preparedness in the Victorian Budget 2023-24, taking the total investment over the past 12 months to $43 million.
As stated by Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney
“Our agriculture industry is incredibly valuable to Victoria’s prosperity and investing in this technology means we are very well placed to understand the movement of livestock now and into the future.”
“This new technology is an extremely effective tool to ensure we are best prepared to quickly respond to the risk of an emergency animal disease outbreak, cementing Victoria as a national leader in livestock traceability.”
