Tips to help with good recordkeeping

September 2024

RECORDS ARE VITAL TOOLS FOR ACHIEVING A MORE ADVANCED LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT. IT ALSO ASSISTS IN IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT. YOU CANNOT MAKE DECISIONS WITHOUT INFORMATION, AS INCORRECT DECISIONS COST YOU MONEY.

HOW TO GET STARTED

• It is important to be able to identify what happened to which animal, so tag and brandmark all animals.
• Records should address the needs of a specific farmer, be easy to understand and must be affordable.
• It is up to the farmer how in-depth records are kept. However, some basics shouldn’t be skipped.
• Records should preferably be done electronically, as it is then easier to search for. However, if this is not possible, written documents will also be sufficient.

WHAT TO CAPTURE

• Identification number
• Date of birth
• Breed
• Origin/supplier
• Pregnancy record
• Vaccinations received (withdrawal period, booster date)
• Sickness with date
• Medical treatments (withdrawal period, booster date)

BENEFITS OF RECORDKEEPING
Some of the benefits of keeping records of your livestock are:

1. Effective disease treatment.
2. A track record of diseases allows you to discover unusual animal conditions.
3. Recordkeeping offers a basis to evaluate and select the animals ready to be slaughtered.
4. You can easily identify unproductive cows.
5. It is a way to check inbreeding.
6. You can pinpoint issues in your farming operation.
7. It assists in the formulation of economic feeding approaches.
8. Analysing the financial inflow and outflow makes cost inefficiencies clear so you can economise your operation.
9. Overall improvement in the management of your farming operation.

TRACEABILITY
Traceability is about animal identification to ultimately trace the movement of animals. Although there is no legislation to report animal movements, a farmer shouldn’t just move an animal without recording the start and end location to which it is being transported. This has a larger impact on the industry than the farmer realises.

Traceability is important to the farmer for the following reasons:

Market access: Entering the commercial value chain will yield higher per kilogram prices for livestock. In the future, if a farmer wants to access the commercial value chain (and therefore a better price), he will be required to show records for the identification and movement of animals.

Improve herd management: Having a proper recordkeeping system in place and recording the movement of animals to and from your farm will improve the management of your herd and in turn your productivity and income.

Traceability is important to the industry for the following reasons:

Recall: To track the origin of diseases when outbreaks occur in the country – such as foot-and-mouth disease – to contain the disease as fast as possible and more effectively.

Stock theft: Traceability will assist with dealing with stock theft cases and addressing the risk thereof.

Exporting: The industry needs to have a traceability system in place to access higher quality markets/countries, which will yield a premium price for meat.

Economic stability: All the above will assist with stability in the industry.

Publication: September 2024

Section: Pula/Imvula

Author: INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE RMIS (RED MEAT INDUSTRY SERVICES)