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Sheep NLIS to feature at WA’s Wagin Woolarama in March

Sheep Central, February 23, 2015

Western Australia’s sheep industry campaign to improve producer participation under the National Livestock Identification System will continue at Wagin Woolarama on March 6 and 7.

The Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) is gearing up to help sheep producers ensure their stock movements are recorded correctly at the Woolarama, one of the state’s largest agricultural shows.

Producers who buy sheep privately, agist or display sheep at shows will be able to take their National Vendor Declarations or waybills to the DAFWA Woolarama display for a demonstration of how to record stock movements on the NLIS database.

DAFWA Animal Product Integrity manager Peter Gray said recording sheep movements on the NLIS database had been mandatory since 2010 but some sheep producers were still unsure of the process.

“Uploading sheep movements to the NLIS database is a vital part of the traceability process, and is crucial to Western Australia’s sheep industry maintaining and increasing its market access,” Dr Gray said.

“DAFWA is working with industry to improve WA’s sheep traceability by ensuring producers know how and when to record sheep movements on the NLIS database.”

The DAFWA display will profile the newly established sheep NLIS helpdesk supported by $250,000 over three years as part of the State Government Royalties for Regions funding.

Dr Gray said there were three key steps to improved sheep traceability.

“The first is ensuring all sheep have the correct NLIS identification linking them to a property – the correct NLIS eartag(s) plus earmark,” he said.

“The second is completing the National Vendor Declaration (NVD) or waybill, which record the movement of sheep from one property to another.

“The final step is recording the NVD information onto the NLIS database where it is stored electronically and can be retrieved quickly, when required, during a disease outbreak or chemical residue incident.

“The first two steps are generally well understood by producers but many are still unaware that property-to-property movements need to be recorded on the NLIS database as well.”

Dr Gray said DAFWA staff at Wagin Woolorama would help producers with sheep movement and identification requirements obtain a NLIS database account free of charge, record sheep movement details on the NLIS database and check to see if an account is up to date.

A range of other information will be available in the DAFWA shed, including details about managing and eradicating footrot, recognising and promptly reporting unusual signs of disease in livestock, a new lamb survival project, the 100%+ Club, details on available farm support and training, online tools including the MyPestGuide mobile app, soil management information and a high-tech education trailer.

The DAFWA shed at Wagin Woolorama is located at Site 626, Kitchener Street, Wagin. The NLIS project is part of a $20 million Boosting Biosecurity Defences program led by the department and funded through the Seizing the Opportunity Agriculture initiative made possible by the Royalties for Regions program. More information on the sheep NLIS helpdesk is available on the DAFWA website agric.wa.gov.au

Source: DAFWA

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