It was an interesting meeting at the Region 8 AGM on Monday night. There were at least 16 people present as all the sheep breeders are interested in the new RIF tagging system to be introduced in about a year from now.
The main concern of sheep producers is the high cost. The tags cost just under $2 each, which maybe OK for a cow or steer that is worth $1000, but not OK for a $150-$250 sheep.
Farmers with the largest herds were the most concerned, as most of their sales are to livestock sales barns for meat, and not such a high proportion of high end registered breeding stock.
One estimate of the costs per sheep in just one sale is about $20. This would include trucking, auction fees, OSMA check-off fees and tagging. This does not include the cost of feed, deworming etc.
OSMA check-off fees are also increasing, just to add to the financial burden a little more.
There was some discussion of funding of "borderline" or irrelevant research projects. People at the meeting felt there could be some cost cutting.
If you are concerned about this, please attend the OSMA meeting in Guelph in November.
I expect to be there.
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