EID Abattoir Reader

In recognition of the increasing importance of traceability of sheep, we at St Merryn have been looking at ways to prepare for changes in legislation, whilst also improving the profitability of our producers' businesses.

With plans to increase our lamb kill to 16,000 lambs a week, our established Livestock and Information Technology departments have looked at innovative ways to improve the efficiency of production and to offer an additional benefit to existing and new producers.

We took the decision to install an EID reader from Shearwell Data on our lamb line. Technicians from Shearwell Data have synchronised the reader with our existing system of recording weights and grades and have enabled the easy transfer of data from one system to the other

This means that there has been minimal disruption to our system and maximum benefits for us as a company. Producers will also benefit from increasing returns, through improved and more efficient management and selection of lambs.

After numerous trials and little tribulation, we have now reached the final stages of implementation and soon the system will be able to read individual electronic tags on lambs.

A major benefit to us as a company is that farmers will be more likely to produce lambs that fit our deadweight specification of 16kg to 21kg. It is hoped, that as farmers grasp the importance of EID, and invest in the relevant equipment and software, they will be able to select and assess which lambs perform best under certain management systems. In turn, by selecting lambs to fit the processors specification, their bottom line will be greatly improved.

St Merryn are pleased to fully endorse this system and would encourage all lamb producers to invest in the necessary requirements to take full advantage of the benefits of the Electronic Identification System installed at our Merthyr Tydfil plant.