The Department of Agriculture recently published an updated Farmers Charter which outlines the rights of farmers.

The Farmers Charter is effectively an agreement between both parties on improving the standards and delivery targets for the Department’s schemes and services, including on-farm inspections, and brings clarity to the arrangements around inspections.

One of the key elements of the Farmers Charter is a certain relaxation of some of the rules surrounding animal identification and registration.

Last year, almost 3,000 farmers were found to have non-compliances relating to Animal identification and Registration following inspections, according to from the Department of Agriculture.

Figures released by the Department showed that some 1,186 farmers incurred penalty/sanction following the inspection while some 1,752 had only minor breaches with no monetary penalty.

Some 4,743 farmers were inspected on Animal Identification and Registration last year.