At the most recent Sheep Producers Australia (SPA) Policy Council the VFF Livestock council advocated for hook tracking for sheep and lamb to be added to the list of SPA strategic policy priorities, SPA is taking this forward and will be working with the VFF, SFO’s and the wider industry to work toward progressing hook tracking for sheep and lamb.
The VFF has made increasing transparency in the Livestock supply chain a key policy priority. With the national rollout of mandatory eID in Sheep and Goats, the opportunity exists to progress the issue of hook tracking for the benefit of the industry and producers, so that producers can receive carcass feedback that will optimize productivity and profitability. Benefits from hook tracking would include;
- Improved accuracy of animal counts and bio-security protocols.
- Improve ability to record animal health and defect status.
- Improve feedback systems to producers and deliver improvements to grid compliance of carcases to better meet market specifications.
Although there are a number of technological barriers to overcome to achieve an integrated hook tracking system, the VFF believes that achieving this would bring huge benefits to producers and the wider industry by increasing efficiency along the supply chain.
We will continue to work with industry and SFO’s to progress discussions to achieve policy and technological solutions.