June 8, 2006
 

Equipment shortage slows down Canadian pig tattooing system

A shortage of slap tattoo numbering equipment has forced a delay in the final switch to a new national tattoo numbering system for pigs in Canada, the Manitoba Pork Council said.

The Canadian swine industry is in the process of allocating new slap tattoo numbers as part of a national effort to develop a multi-species livestock identification and tracking system.

Producers in Saskatchewan began switching to the new numbers May 1 and producers in the rest of Canada were supposed to follow between Jun 1 and Jun 15.

Farmers in Manitoba had an original deadline of Jun 15 for the changeover of the new tattoo numbers. Manitoba Pork Council said that the deadline has been pushed back to Jul 1 due to a national shortage of numbers and tattoo equipment across Canada.

In Manitoba the problem is in a shortage of equipment that can print eights. Producers have been told they can keep their old numbers and add an eight to the end, thus sparking off a rush for equipment numbering eights in Manitoba.

Under the new system, each tattoo number is allocated to a specific farm premises according to the operation's legal land description.