sheep tags !!!!!!!!

hedgecutting eddie

was in the mart today with few sheep and there was 3 department officals there checking sheep tags , they stopped 12 farmers from selling lambs because they hadnt got the correct tags !!!the farmers had factory tags in the lambs and didnt have mart tags!!!!! wudnt mind but the lambs wud have all went to a factory anyway , what bull**** no wonder some farmers feel like packing it all in and setting there farms

5live

Its a right pain in the a*se alright. I have lambs ready now and i must find out this years rules. Changes every few years in the regulations dont help either

johngalway

I'm going to qualify this post by asking people to check for themselves, just in case I have gotten something wrong here.

There was a Department of Agriculture inspector at the mart today, said I'd ask him what the story is. Nice guy, easy to talk to.

If you have breeding ewes that were born before 1 Jan 2010, the existing tags they have are fine, you don't need to do anything with them.

Lambs born in 2010 which are now hoggets need two tags, one in each ear.

Lambs born in 2011 (lambs under 9 months of age really..) need just one tag for the mart. BUT, if you intend on keeping them over 9 months of age then you should have two tags in those lambs before they're 9 months old.

Lambs under 9 months of age which you intend to bring directly from your holding to the factory may use the small yellow slaughter tags* (*not 100% on that point).

There were wether hoggets there today with just slaughter tags (small yellow) in them, he said they wouldn't be allowed to be sold that way. They should have had two tags in them.

One farmer had ewe lambs under 9 months of age with two tags (big yellow) each, inspector said that wasn't really necessary but that the next man who bought them wouldn't need to do anything with them. The next pen up was more ewe lambs under 9 months of age and they had just one tag (big yellow) in them, he said they were fine.

Do your own homework though, just to be sure. I was a bit nervous approaching the inspector to tell the truth but he was sound out and just wanted to make sure things were being done the right way.

If anyone who can get to Maam Cross mart next Saturday July 23rd (sale starts at 11am I believe) there will be another inspector there that day to check pens and answer questions.

One more thing, they announced at the mart that ALL sheep must be tagged before entering the property, no sheep will be allowed entry into the mart even if you intend tagging them in the pen that morning. I assume this could apply to all other marts too but can't confirm that.

easymoney!

its very hard to get at first but you have posted it very clear there johngalway!

was there a big sale yesterday? whats the prices of old feeding sheep and light store lambs??

johngalway

easymoney! wrote: »

its very hard to get at first but you have posted it very clear there johngalway!

was there a big sale yesterday? whats the prices of old feeding sheep and light store lambs??

It's getting bigger, there were 4 1/2 or 5 rows of sheep if memory serves me right. Can't tell you what the prices were as I go more to meet other farmers and look at the sheep generally. Only prices I'm interested is what I get for my own lot

9th July prices are on their website however http://www.maamcrossmart.com/