NORTHERN Territory beef producer, Sandy Warby, has been at the forefront of a trial to improve the retention rates of National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) tags in cattle, potentially helping to save producers time and money.
Conducted by Swiss manufacturer, Datamars, observers said the trial couldn't have been timed better, as it gave researchers a golden opportunity to put the new-design round tags through their paces in challenging terrain.
The electronic ear tags were applied initially between September and December 2010 at a time that did not interfere with normal management, but which coincided with the abnormal wet season.
The six-month readings took place between April and August 2011, with 770 cattle read and just two losses recorded in northern Australia, representing more than half of the total cattle in the trial.
The results reflected Mr Warby's experience in the area.
Mr Warby, from Phillip Creek Station, Tennant Creek, said that last year he put about 500 Datamars Round NLIS tags in his keeper heifers.
"Despite the scrub and the wet conditions of 2010-11, we only lost one tag in the first year of trials," he said.
The total trial also involved another five landholders across six properties, including three holdings in northern Australia.
It comprised more than 1500 head of cattle, ranging from Bos Indicus to Bos Taurus (British and British-cross Euro), to milking Jerseys and Illawarras.
The cattle used were mostly females ranging from calves (to three months of age) to young cows.
The aim was to evaluate retention rates and readability of a new design of radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tag across a range of Australian cattle and production conditions over three years.
Trial objectives included on-going observations of physical loss, device deterioration, transponder reliability, ease of initial application and print durability of the RFID tag.
The trial was so successful that late last month, Datamars Australia was granted approval for its round NLIS ear tag to enter the cattle tag supply market.
