With calving season now in full swing, one of the regular jobs on the farm has been bringing in and tagging the new additions.
As a legal requirement, all our calves have to be tagged in both ears within 20 days of birth. Both tags display their own unique identification number consisting of our herd number and then their animal number within our herd.
The number on the calf’s tag is used to register the animal on the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) and in turn produce its own passport. Like a human passport, this must travel with the animal if it moves off the farm for any reason such as agricultural shows, being sold at market or heading for slaughter.
From 2027, all newborn calves must be fitted with Electronic ID tags which can be read with a stick-reader connected to a farm-management database. Fingers crossed, this should help streamline on-farm record keeping!
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