Campbell Tweed gives seal of approval to EID Loop Sheep Tags

Ballycoose Farm in County Antrim, owned and managed by Campbell, has been farmed by his family for almost five hundred years.

Campbell says: “I can remember back to my grandfather’s time on the farm in the late 50’s and early 60’s. We’ve moved on in time with land improvement and growing better grass and we’ve upped our numbers going very much into performance recording with the Easy Care sheep breed where self-shedding, good health and low maintenance are the major benefits.”

Campbell, who is a long-term Countryside Services customer, continues: “We like the EID Loop tags and we also appreciate the customer service that we get from Countryside Services. The team are extremely responsive and helpful to what we need and any queries that we may have. Whenever I need tags urgently, they have them sent out the next day at the very latest.

“We also really value the different colours of visual tags which suit the different parts of the flock as we run 23 different mating groups. Avoiding inbreeding as much as possible is important and with the different coloured visual tags from Countryside Services, the flock can be identified visually whenever there isn’t a reader available to us at that time.

“The tags are very easy to apply and have all the features that are a necessity on our farm including a lightweight sharp pin tag suitable for our young stock lambs. We use an auto draft system and we find the chip in the electronic tag to have very good readability. There has also been feedback from breeding stock customers about the good tag retention supporting our experience.”

Countryside Services Customer Services Manager, Ruth Potter, visited Campbell on his farm recently: “Sheep farmers like Campbell are busy people who don’t need the added hassle of missing ear tags. I was delighted to hear just how our EID Loop Tags are benefiting his flocks, saving him time, money and hassle.

“We receive extensive feedback from our farmers and know they really value our reliable and robust ear tags which have undergone extensive manufacturer research and development.”

Campbell’s sheep have been sharing the farmland with a whole cast of colourful television and film characters from HBO’s Game of Thrones to, more recently, The Northman. Campbell explains: “This all came about when a young man, a location scout for Universal Studios, knocked on our door one night back in 2009. The first film was Your Highness and later that year two days filming for the pilot of Game of Thrones which was what started the whole thing off. Since then we’ve had other films including The Lost City of Z, Mrs Wilson and most recently The Northman which filmed here for 21 days.”

Returning to farming Campbell says lamb production is a lot more expensive when compared to five or ten years ago. “Because of that we are running as low a cost system as much as we can. We are performance recording and tracking to increase the efficiency of the stock, and we find this system works really well for us, along with a good readability EID loop tag provided by Countryside Services.”

Countryside Services are currently running an exclusive Sheep Tag offer! Receive 10 FREE Countryside EID Loop Tag Sets when you order 150 or more AND £25 off a TGM Electronic Reader AND a FREE Loop Tag Applicator for all first time orders!

This offer won’t be around forever so make sure you don’t miss out! With a quick turnaround, including same day dispatch available for orders made before 1pm, Countryside Services delivers ALL your ear tag needs!

You can purchase your ear tags by calling 028 8778 9770, or if you purchase from a Farm Store or Veterinary Practice please call us and we will direct you to your nearest tag outlet.