Buying and selling pigs
Step 1: Get a PIC
Make sure your PIC is active and up to date. Phone your nearest LLS office on 1300 795 299 or apply for a PIC.
Step 2: Branding
Order a Swine Brand (pigs over 25kg)
Pigs moving to a saleyard, another property or an abattoir must be branded with a swine brand if they weigh more than 25 kg and are changing ownership.
Brands are:
- carbon ink
- on the left shoulder for pigs born on the property
- on the right shoulder for pigs that have been introduced or of unknown origin
- based on the Property Identification Code (PIC) of the property the pigs were last on.
If your property does not have its own swine brand, contact us to discuss purchasing a brand for your property.
NLIS accredited ear tags (pigs under 25kg)
NLIS accredited ear tags for pigs are either yellow or orange and are printed with a property’s unique PIC, the NLIS logo and ‘P’ inside a circle.
These ear tags are used to permanently identify pigs less than 25 kg liveweight and may be used as an option for identifying pigs greater than 25 kg if a brand is unavailable.
- Pigs can have only one ‘breeder’ tag, but more than one ‘post-breeder’ tag.
- It is illegal to remove tags from a pig until it is being processed at an abattoir.
Contact your local rural supplier for ordering tags.
Step 3: PigPass NVD
PigPass is a national tracking system which provides real time information on the movements of all pigs in Australia. This enables authorities to quickly determine the source of a disease outbreak and notify people with pigs in the affected area to stop the spread of disease. Pigs moving to a saleyard, another property or an abattoir require a PigPass National Vendor Declaration (NVD) to accompany them.
Selling: Complete a PigPass NVD online up to 5 days before the movement.
Buying: Record the movement into the PigPass database within 2 days of pigs arriving on your property from another location.
For more information or to order your PigPass NVD form, visit Pig Pass.
For more information visit DPI website for the eight step guide to moving and selling pigs factsheet.