SPENCERVILLE — The new traceability regulations might put some Ontario sheep farmers out of business, unless there is financial help from government. "There have been no offers of funding yet," says Chris Kennedy, the Ontario Sheep Marketing Association director of District 8.

Currently, Ontario producers pay 26 cents a tag. But the Radio Frequency Identification tags cost between $1.60 and $4.60 each. In addition, the electronic wand or stick used to connect the chip in the tag with the recording apparatus will cost $800. On top of that, producers will have to pay for a laptop and computer program.

"There’s incredible pressure to adopt this technology," Fred Baker, chair of District 10, told about 100 producers at Sheep Day in Spencerville.

The system will provide traceability from the womb to tomb from coast to coast and provide information to help manage your flocks. It will record age verification, feeding statistics, profit or loss figures on individual sheep, health records and traceability.

Glen Fischer, spokesman for Allflex Canada, said the system cuts paperwork, especially in large herds, and is tamper proof.

And that’s good enough for David Thompson, of Shawville. He has 180 ewes and will be setting up a system with some financial help from ASRA, the Quebec Farm Income Stabilization Insurance plan.

He’ll run his sheep over a weigh scale in a chute, punch in numbers on the computer and record them. "I’ll take my laptop with me," he says. To keep costs down, he’ll share the technology with his cousins.

A more expensive system enables shepherds and slaughter houses to install a permanent system that records passing sheep automatically.

Alberta will introduce compulsory traceability in 2010 while Quebec is already operating with a system. Traceability will be mandated throughout Canada in 2012.

Ontario now requires a single ear tag for every animal shipped. However the Quebec system is more stringent, requiring two ear tags and the tags must be attached in the first seven days of life.

Once attached the ear tags stay on but have been known to fall off. Thompson says both ear tags fell off one sheep and were lost. They were replaced, he says, with no fuss.