Calving - Be a mate, update NAIT
Protect your farm and support lifetime traceability by fulfilling your NAIT obligations this calving season.
Calving is now underway. We know this is a busy time for farmers, but it’s also important to ensure you’re meeting your NAIT requirements.
Keeping track of farm animals throughout their lifetime means we can respond quickly and effectively to biosecurity risks or disease outbreaks. Being proactive reduces the threat to your livelihood, and the time and money needed to trace and eliminate disease from infected livestock.
For helpful guidance around calving this year, check out the links below.
Have your say on the NAIT 2025-2028 Traceability Operational Strategy
We invite all NAIT users to provide feedback on the NAIT scheme.
NAIT Ltd and its funders review the NAIT scheme every three years to shape the next three-year strategy and to calculate funding, including any necessary levy adjustments We want to find out what works well, and where we can improve.
Your input is important and will help us develop the NAIT scheme’s priorities and objectives for the next three years.
The success of NAIT scheme depends on the collaborative effort of all users so it’s important you have your say.
Visit our website to access the consultation document, which outlines the current operations of the scheme and details the questions we seek feedback on. You can find the document and submission form using the link below.
Buying NAIT tags - what you need to know
As farmers begin to stock up on NAIT tags, it’s a good opportunity for a reminder on what tags you need and where to purchase them.
There are currently three manufacturers of NAIT-approved tags, these being Allflex, Leader and Datamars.
It’s important to note that currently these are the only companies that manufacture approved NAIT tags – while there are other ear tags out there, these are not valid NAIT tags and cannot be used to meet your NAIT obligations.
If you use non-approved tags to help visually identify your animals, remember that your animals also need to have a valid NAIT tag fitted before they are 180 days of age or before they move to another location, including farms, saleyards, and meat processors.
You can order approved NAIT tags through:
- your local farm supply store
- most vets
- the manufacturer’s online store
- some NAIT-accredited organisations.
If you’re buying tags for cattle, you’ll need white tags (on both the front and back). For deer, you’ll need tags that are orange on the front, and the back can be any colour except white.
If your animals are beef or deer, your tags may have your NAIT location number printed on them. If you have dairy animals, they may have your NAIT location number or dairy participant code printed on them.
When you buy tags, the tag manufacturer issues them to your NAIT location number and makes them available to use. As tags do not come pre-registered, once you’ve applied a tag to an animal, you will then need to register the animal in NAIT.
For more information on buying tags, see the links below.
