Exmoor Quality Beef Producer Group

The EQBPG was established in 1998 and was funded through Exmoor LEADER. The project had the following aims:

  • To establish a two year electronic identification trial using bolus in cattle - over 3000 bolus used

  • To establish monitoring and evaluation procedures to provide information for the trial and participating farmers on breeding, finishing and traceability

  • To establish computerised records for cattle

  • To raise awareness of traceability, information management and Electronic ID across Exmoor

  • To automate recording in the hopes of reducing labour costs and transcription errors

  • To improve stock quality through increased recording and analysis of data

  • To ascertain whether it was feasible and practical to expect abattoirs to retrieve bolus and return them to Shearwell Data Limited

There were two phases to the project. Phase I had seven farmer members, encompassing 2,784 ha of Exmoor and 1,486 beef cows and followers were administered with ruminal bolus in year one. Five further members were recruited for Phase II.

The key component of the trail was the HDX ruminant bolus. In parallel to the RF device in the animal, the equipment and software for the collection and storage of the data also formed part of the trial. This comprised:

  • The Psion Workabout Handheld Computer - with software developed By Shearwell Data Ltd (SDL), to capture and identify cattle when used in conjunction with a reader
  • FarmWorks by Shearwell Data Ltd - SDL’s livestock management program which collates data either entered manually or streamed from the Psion.

    • Radio Frequency Readers - several versions from handheld readers to fixed readers for races and abattoir locations. The most common on-farm readers are handheld readers used with or without a stick antennae or a race reader with an antenna attached to a crush. The most effective location of the race antenna is on the left hand side and on a non-metallic mounting.

The main use of the EID systems was when handling cattle for weighing or routine treatment. A further time saving became apparent on those farms under restriction due to Bovine Tuberculosis. The requirement for repeated handling for testing was made less onerous by the ease of identification of cattle as they entered the crush. A time trial established an improvement in recording time of over 100% compared to manual handling and recording. Software was written to transfer data to the SVS with TB test details.

A noticeable, but as yet unquantifiable, reduction in stress on the animals was noted as the operator did not have to ascertain identity from the ear tag.
The enhancement in apparent welfare of the animal and the reduction in the labour required for routine handling procedures are key positive benefits of the trial.