Sheep farmers flock to electronic database meetings

National Sheep Association’s series of six open meetings with SouthWestern, the provider of the new electronic sheep movement reporting database in England, started last week with well-attended meetings in Cirencester and Exeter on Wednesday 19th February.

The lunchtime session at Cirencester Livestock Market drew a crowd of 60 and the evening meeting at Exeter Livestock Centre attracted 170 people.

Both meetings featured a presentation by SouthWestern’s Joe Ryan followed by a question and answer session. Mr Ryan spoke about SouthWestern’s background and their experience delivering agricultural projects, before moving on to an in-depth explanation of the new ARAMS (Animal Recording and Movement Service) system coming into use from 1st April. Changes to paper reporting were discussed alongside a detailed run-through of how electronic reporting would work for farmers who elected to use it, including in common movement scenarios. The floor was then opened for questions.

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker says: “It’s great that SouthWestern have found time to do these meetings with us before the system goes live in April. The turnout at the sessions so far has been huge and it’s interesting to see that so many people are thinking about using the online option for the new movement reporting system. The information SouthWestern are providing at these meetings is very clear and practical and I hope that everyone who attends finds it useful.”