Thursday, 28 June 2012 11:37

NAIT ready for rollout

Written by 

More than 30,000 farmers have signed up for the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme for cattle and deer ahead of the mandatory implementation for cattle on July 1.

NAIT Ltd chief executive Russell Burnard said the NAIT scheme will provide traceability of individual cattle and deer. This will enhance New Zealand’s ability to respond quickly to a food safety scare or a biosecurity threat, and give added confidence to trading partners. Deer join the scheme on 1 March 2013.

“We are pleased with the response from farmers and industry to date. The number of registrations shows a lot of people want to be ready to go from day one. We expect this will continue to rise as people register before moving animals,” Burnard said.

From Sunday (1 July), farmers and industry participants have to adopt new processes. To enable animals to be traced, people in charge of cattle need to register with NAIT, tag and register their stock, and record when animals move off-farm.

“This behaviour change will take time to achieve. The introduction of cattle to the scheme on 1 July marks the beginning of a three-year transition period and we are committed to working with farmers and industry to help them meet their NAIT obligations,” Burnard said.

The NAIT scheme links individual animals to the person responsible for them, and their current location via the animal’s radio frequency identification device (RFID) ear tag and a central database. As a web-based scheme it will enable animal movement information to be updated and accessed much quicker than the current paper-based system.

“NAIT has worked with industry groups and its shareholders (Beef+Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, and Deer Industry New Zealand) to implement a practical and reasonable scheme that utilises existing sector infrastructure.

“We will continue to listen to sector feedback to ensure the scheme works as intended and farmers understand their obligations,” Burnard said.

More like this

Hefty fine for NAIT breach

A hefty court fine over a National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) breach should send a strong message to all farmers, says Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

NAIT campaign for Mid Canterbury

OSPRI New Zealand says - following the resurgence of M. bovis in Mid Canterbury in late 2022, and concerns raised over poor NAIT record keeping and non-compliance - it is increasing its level of education and support to farmers in the region.

Featured

Sheep drench resistance costly

Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.

Dairy sheep and goat turmoil

Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.

Hurry up and slow down!

OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.

National

Knowing bugs means fewer drugs

A mastitis management company claims to deliver the fastest and most accurate mastitis testing available at scale for New Zealand…

Machinery & Products

AGTEK and ARGO part ways

After 12 years of representing the Landini and McCormick brands in New Zealand, Bay of Plenty-based AGTEK and the brands’…

100 years of Farmall Tractors

Returning after an enforced break, the Wheat and Wheels Rally will take place on the Lauriston -Barhill Road, North-East of…

JD unveils its latest beast

John Deere has unveiled its most powerful tractor ever, with the launch of the all new 9RX Series Tractor line-up…

Biggest Quadtrac coming to NZ!

In the biggest announcement that Case IH Australia/New Zealand has made around its tractor range, its biggest tractor is about…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Why?

OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents…

Fat to cut

OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter