AN open invitation has been issued to farmers across the region to attend a high profile sheep EID drop-in day to be staged at Skipton Auction Mart, on Wednesday, February 18, also Craven Champions Day.

Electronic sheep tagging became a reality at the beginning of this year and the event, organised jointly by Craven Cattle Marts and the NFU in Skipton, is designed to take the wraps off the new legislation.

Demonstrations will also showcase the latest developments in tag reading, tag reading software and integrated handling systems - and how they can both contribute and combine to make recording easier.

CCM’s general manager Jeremy Eaton, livestock sales manager Ted Ogden and junior auctioneer Sam Bradley, will be on hand when not on duty on the podium on a busy sales day to answer any queries.

So too will Skipton NFU group secretary Tim Palmer and West Riding county advisor Chris Dickinson, supported by representatives from NFU national headquarters in Stoneleigh.

EBLEX will also be present, as well as ARAMS, the Animal Reporting and Movement Service, who are administering the electronic movement reporting system, along with the National Sheep Association (NSA).

A keynote speaker is Ian Cairns, from DEFRA’s Farm Advisory Service (FAS), who is well versed with all aspects of EID and will give a number of presentations throughout the day on cross compliance and sheep identification.

“It is important to hear the words of an expert like Ian on how non-compliance might well affect farmers’ Single Farm Payments,” said Jeremy Eaton.

Dedicated Rural Safer Neighbourhoods officers from North Yorkshire Police’s Craven Country Watch initiative will also be in attendance. They are now equipped with a scanner to enable roadside scanning and identification of sheep, as part of an all-encompassing brief to more effectively tackle rural crime.

Mr Eaton added: “The fact is that, while controversial, the individual electronic identification of sheep is now compulsory. Our experience to date is that, with very few exceptions, most electronic tags read, so if legislation is here for good then we may as well attempt to turn it to advantage.

“We have assembled a very strong team of industry experts and suppliers for the drop-in day and hope as many people as possible from our agricultural communities will find time to attend.

“Our advice to them remains: Don’t suffer in silence. Bring wives and children, as you may well find something collectively which can make the handling of this new electronic sheep tagging data easier.

“And if we can solve the issues concerning sheep, it should be fairly simple to incorporate cattle EID, which is just around the corner. The big hope here is that we may get some movement on livestock standstills,” he added

The EID drop-in day runs from 1pm to 7pm and High Laithe Catering will keep the cafe open until close of play.