Early in January 2023, Israel’s Agriculture Ministry will launch a new pilot, conducting a cattle census. The census will be carried out over the month and will be used to document and register the heads of cattle living in the State of Israel.
The census will be done using a form that will be sent to each breeder, containing the current documentation that exists in the system, and the breeder will update the form according to the changes in his herd.
According to estimates, about 710,000 heads of cattle live in Israel today, of which about 300,000 live on dairy farms, 295,000 are imported for fattening and slaughter, and about 110,000 heads graze in pastures.
Each breeder is obligated to pay a separate fee for every government processing of his or her cattle (marking, registration, and transport permits). The ministry wants to reduce red tape and collect a unified, fixed fee for the services it provides, based on the number of cattle heads owned by each breeder.
This means that beyond the essential advantage of regular monitoring of the condition of cattle in Israel as part of maintaining public health, the documentation will also help breeders cut their costs.
A breeder who does not participate in the census will be forced to pay the fee according to the most recent government registration of the herd.
The Director of Veterinary and Health Services at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Tamir Goshen, said: “This move is necessary to give breeders modern tools to carry out operations independently, while controlling the number of cattle and their location, and to reduce the spread of diseases. This move will reduce the bureaucracy involved in raising cattle in Israel today, making breeders’ lives easier without compromising public health and the health of the animals.”
