Ear tags will help tracking - de Graaf

No extra costs will be incurred by government when it replaces the reticular bolus with an electronic ear tag and an analogue ear tag as means of animal identification on New Year's Day 2013, the Minister of Agriculture, Christian de Graaf, told the press in Gaborone on Tuesday.

Minister de Graaf emphasised that the ear tags would tap into infrastructure currently used for the bolus, including computers and readers, thus obviating extra costs.  The tags will be controlled items available only from Livestock Advisory Centers (LACs) countrywide, he said. Farmers will be required to buy the ear tags, insert them into their cattle and bring the returns to the Ministry of Agriculture for data capturing and processing.