New Lamb Tagging Rules in England

Following a consultation this summer, DEFRA has announced that all lambs under 12 months will need to be electronically tagged in England from 2015.  Currently many lambs are still identified by manual tags despite electronic identification (EID) rules being introduced three years ago.

With the introduction of a new electronic sheep and goat database, due next Spring, DEFRA wants to move to an all-electronic system. DEFRA has estimated that there will be a marginal cost benefit to the industry.  However, the NFU has suggested that the new rules could cost farmers up to £1.8 million, with electronic tags costing around 50p per lamb more.  The NFU and the National Sheep Association have argued against introducing the rules for lambs going straight to slaughter.  In 2012/13 approximately 3.5 million lambs were moved from farm to abattoir with a further 3.5 million moving from market to abattoir.