Ticket clipped with your steak, Sir?

I have often blogged on the utter uselessness of adding another layer of bureaucracy to supposedly track our cattle between the farm gate and when it gets it head lopped complete with identifying tags at the works.

The NAIT bureaucracy was sold as 'self funding', ie NAIT would charge levies per beast at tag purchase and at slaughter to recover their costs. All very well till this week.

75c per beast - "a RFID administration fee"

The New Zealand Farmer's Weekly reports in this week's editorial (not online ?) that the thieves at Elders, PGG Wrightson and NZ Farmers Livestock to name but a few are also now clipping the ticket on your steak as the animals pass through their yards.

NAIT is apparently powerless to do anything about these rogues trying to "recover the cost". A very tidy clip if you ask me, considering the thousands of beasts that pass through their hands each week.

Now the money trail is exposed to sunlight, I'd expect the near useless Min Ag to take investigate and stop this ticket clipping. Unfortunately, from his past track record on stopping the NAIT rort, probably not. Probably got shares in said companies.