Scotish farmers are worried about a new scheme from Brussels that will require ID cards for sheep.

Brussels wants Scotland's sheep population of 7,131,000 to be electronically tagged.

Scotland's sheep farmers say that the new process is neither cost-effective, accurate nor practical.  The Electronic Identification (EID) scheme was designed a decade ago and will come online in 2010. It is envisaged by the EU as the best way of tracing animal movements, and stemming the spread of disease.

A radio frequency micro-chip is put in an ear tag, which can then be read by scanners. The signal is recorded, and can be sent to a central database to trace the animal's movements.

More than 8,000 sheep farmers north of the Border have put their name to a petition objecting  to the directive.

Basically it will cost £1.25 per sheep.  Fortunately they don't need photo ID otherwise it would be more expensive and there would be very long queues at the photo booths at Scottish railway stations.

MSP John Scott, who farms 800 ewes in Ballantrae, South Ayrshire, said that  livestock, and particularly sheep farmers were leaving Scotland's hills and uplands in droves.

He said there was no benefit to tagging and Brussels should look to reduce unnecessary costs and regulations rather than bringing in new ones.
Check Out
The Scotsman