NAIT (National Animal Identification & Tracing) becomes compulsory for cattle on the 1^st October 2011 – what does this mean and what can you do?

From 1^st October 2011 ALL Cattle will require a NAIT RFID (radio frequency identification device) Secondary Tag to leave the farm – this includes cattle going to slaughter (the only exception will be bobby calves less than 30 days old), cattle going to the sale yards and even private treaty. All feeder calves will require a NAIT RFID Secondary Tag before they move to the calf rearer after 1^st October 2011.

Deer will require NAIT RFID Secondary Tags 12 months after cattle, from 2012 onwards.

Farmers should consider using NAIT-compliant RFID ear tags on newborn animals before the scheme becomes compulsory in 2011. This will avoid the expense of having to re-tag animals once NAIT becomes a mandatory requirement. It is also easier and safer to tag juvenile rather than fully grown animals.

If you have a UNIVERSAL tagger for your Allflex tags then you won’t need a new tagger, you just remove the black base. Leader Taggers also use the same taggers.

Although the tags are electronic there is no need for you to have to purchase the wands or other readers however if you do want to use the tags for electronic management you can.