The New South Wales (NSW) state government is proposing a more evolved electronic identification tagging system for sheep and goats with Australian agriculture ministers on July 20 amid concerns a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak could wipe out parts of its agriculture sector.
Currently, Australian cattle are able to be traced through electronic tagging under the National Livestock Identification System. However, the industry still relies on a mob-based system for tracing the movement of sheep and goats.
A mob-based tracing system uses visual identification instead of electronic identification, allowing livestock to be traced with greater efficiency and accuracy.
NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said that the state government is pushing for the Federal Government to increase biosecurity measures further to keep the FMD crisis out of Australia….