aSHEEP farmers in Yorkshire will face another rise in costs next month and those who don't comply could face fines of up to £5,000. The legislation comes in on September 1, and sheep farmers will have until January next year to meet the requirement.

The legislation, which follows an EU directive, requires sheep farmers to earmark or tattoo every sheep on their land with their place of birth. The requirement also applies to goats as well as sheep and farmers must comply before they sell animals for slaughter or move them off the holding of birth. The Ministry of Agriculture is writing to every sheep farmer in Yorkshire informing them of the new regulation and their flock mark.

Miss Dorothy Fairburn, regional director of the Country Landowners Association, said "While one can understand the reasoning behind it - providing the consumer with increasing confidence and enabling closer checks to be carried out on EU subsidies - the tags will cost about 50p a sheep and for some of our members with farming incomes at their lowest level for 60 years, that is a cost too far." She went on to say "obviously if sheep are not identified under the terms of this EU directive we will face problems with exports. It is yet another example of the red tape which is getting a real hold on every area of farming and driving up costs."