Lamb Processing

Electronic NVDs should be rolled out fast, says Aust Lamb Company manager

Terry Sim, November 24, 2014
ALS livestock manager Ben Verrall

ALS livestock manager Ben Verrall

Electronic National Vendors declarations should be introduced as soon as possible, with stock agents  driving their uptake, Australian Lamb Company livestock manager Ben Verrall told an eNVD forum last week.

At the eNVD forum in Melbourne last week, Mr Verrall said the issue of old NVD books being used by farmers was a stock agency issue and old NVDS should not be accepted.

“You still get first edition vendor decs coming through sometimes, that’s how ridiculous it is.”

“I am agreeance with this (eNVDs), I think it has to happen,” he said.

“We’ve got the spine of it now, we’ve got all the questions to be answered, why not just make it electronic and go ahead with it?

“It’s a simple thing where everyone is going around in circles about the old excuses about not having data access – that is almost like a stalling tactic – because everyone has got a phone, everyone has connectivity somehow, so there has got to be a way of getting it through,” Mr Verrall said.

“If it is not put in as a ‘has-to-happen, everyone has to do it’ and then slowly roll it out and put a timeline on it, that it has to be done in three years, I think you will see a massive uptake along the way.”

“It is a simple thing to do and it should be put in place fairly fast,” he said.

“It’s basic, it is progression – I think we need to do it.”

Mr Verrall believed more agents should have attended the ENVD forum.

“Where are they?”

ALPA support a national approach on eNVDs

The forum was organised by the Livestock Saleyards Association of Victoria and was attended by representatives from MLA, LPA, Safemeat, the Victorian Farmers Federation, Telstra, processors, the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Ltd, stock agents and technology companies.

ALPA southern regional manager Liz Summerville

ALPA southern regional manager Liz Summerville

Earlier in the forum, ALPA southern region manager Liz Summerville said ALPA agents want a national consistent approach to eNVDs.

“It has to be national – state-based rules get really tricky.”

Ms Summerville said ALPA agents supported Livestock Production Assurance NVDs.

“So we are really looking forward to the partners in the room linking up with Kevin Roberts (LPA advisory committee chairman) and trying to go down that path.”

“Australia’s reputation as a supplier of quality red meat cannot ever be in jeopardy at all.”

She said agents want to make things easy for producers and for themselves.

“We really want to see that the people here doing the trials fit in with our software as best that we can.

“We want the (eNVD) system to be easy to use, cost-effective,” she said.

“We need to be mindful that there are a lot of areas in Victoria and Australia where there is no Internet and no mobile phone service.

“Sometimes Cloud-based software may not work all the time.”

eNVDs would make agents’ work easier

She said ALPA agents were happy to get involved and help with eNVD development because it would make their jobs easier.

“It is going to be win-win for everybody.

“ALPA supports technology and we want to work with the partners in the room,” she said.

“We want to make it as easy for our members as possible, but we cannot enforce and impose.

“So we want you guys to work with us and we will work with you as well.”

Livestock administrators for Ballarat agents TB White and Sons, Joanne McGuigan and Kathy Burgess said they supported development of eNVDs because of the amount of time they spent sourcing details for incomplete paper NVDs.

“You have serial offenders who ring them up every week because they haven’t put Russia or Saudi Eligible on their dec or they haven’t filled it in properly,” Ms Burgess said.

She believed eNVDs would save agents “loads of time.”

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Comments

  1. Andrew Freshwater, March 17, 2015

    If we are at all serious about progressing the sheep meat industry then EID tags and electronic NVD’s are the only way to go. This is just basic inventory management that every other industry has no issues with, and yet in the sheep meat industry it seems to be an issue – its madness.

  2. Andy Madigan, November 24, 2014

    Mr Verrall seems to be confused about who wants NVD’s, suggesting it is a stock agency issue and agents should drive Electronic NVD’s and old NVD’s used by farmers should not be accepted. I can assure him it is not only an agency issue as it is the processors who demand the NVD’s. I wonder if he accepts older versions of NVD’s for his direct consignments now? I would guess, of course he does, he has the choice not to on all his purchasers now, but he does as do most other processors. NVD’s are not mandatory, but try and sell livestock without one would be near impossible as the processor needs the information. As a proceesor Mr Verrallhe can choose to accept the LPA NVD and any version of, that he wants. He can make his own NVD as some other processors already do and have. Or he can not buy or accept any animals to process without the E-NVD. We will help in getting the word out of what buyers want, but to suggest E-NVDs must be driven solely by agents is ridiculous. He believes more agents should have attended the meeting, thats his opinion. As to his question as “where were they”, they were there represented by their Industry Body, ALPA.
    All vendors should get ready now for 2015 by having the latest LPA NVD 2013 Version, as some processors have put out their policy and this is all they will accept. Some from now and some in 1st Jan 2015. What say you Mr Verrall, what is your policy on NVD’s going forward?
    Andy Madigan ALPA CEO.

  3. Kerry Glasser, November 24, 2014

    Sorry but as a producer and from experience I know E NVD’s are NOT quicker after using the cattle version. They should be an option but I find it simpler and quicker to just grab the NVD book and go. All the NVD’s are in one place and together,in order etc . It used to take me some some time to find pass words and various security question answeres then going to yards to load sheep with bits of loose paper flying around in the wind drove me crazy.

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