All farmers are welcome to attend a practical demonstration of Bovine Electronic Identification at Cork Marts, Corrin, Fermoy on Wednesday next, 18th September at 6.00pm

ICOS National Marts have arranged a visit to Ireland by the Scottish Bovine EID research team to demonstrate their research findings on the practical applications of Bovine EID. This will be an excellent opportunity for farmers to get an overview of EID systems and their use. Fermoy is one of only three locations in Ireland where the system will be demonstrated, the others are in Wexford and Roscommon.

Bovine EID (Electronic Identification system) can provide competitive advantages for Irish farmers and these will be outlined at the meetings. The use of EID is currently mandatory across Europe for sheep or goats, and it is optional for bovines (beef or dairy). The demonstration will last approximately 1 hour and is designed to provide a complete overview to farmers of the potential benefits of EID.

ICOS National Marts executive Ray Doyle, explained: “There will be a full working demonstration of Bovine EID and this will provide a valuable insight as to how it could be beneficial to the marts sector. Electronic tag readers will be on display reading single tags and multiple tags with both the race and stick types of reader in use. This will include electronic writing of production information on tags and programming tags from passports. Farmers will also be able to see the associated computer and printout facilities that electronic identification systems for cattle can provide.”