Morrisons trials high-tech EIDs

A new EID technology that allows producers to track performance of sheep at slaughter is being tested at a Morrisons meat plant in Aberdeenshire.

The ear tags will give farmers detailed quality data on every sheep reaching the Turriff abattoir, recording carcass weights and grades.

The trial is being run in partnership with Quality Meat Scotland and ScotEID, the Scottish government-funded livestock traceability company.

If successful, it will put the final, missing piece in the jigsaw that can help farmers take advantage of EID to make breeding decisions at farm level based on performance evidence, said Morrisons.

“This initiative, which advances the technology to a stage where individual ear tag numbers can be linked to carcass weights and grades, is a major step forward for farmers interested in finding out what their returns are from specific breeds or breeding lines,” said Quality Meat Scotland chairman Jim McLaren.

“This will help to improve the efficiency of the Scottish sheep industry and producers’ bottom lines by giving them information they have never had easy access to previously.”