Sheepbreeder Recording Fees

It is 7 years since Signet last changed the basic recording fees paid by members and over 12 years since we changed the fee for ultrasound scanning services.

Sheepbreeder recording fees for 2023/2024

	Current (2022-23) online / electronic fee (£)	New Online / electronic (£)	Current paper fee (£) (Unchanged)
Flock Fee	95	75	120
	Additional £/ewe
First 50 ewes	2.5	2	3
51-150 ewes	2	1.75	3
151-300 ewes	1	0.75	3
301+ ewes	0.5	0.25	3

* All fees quoted are exclusive of VAT

** A surcharge of £20/flock will be charged for any clients requiring paper flock reports.

*** These are the fees for breeders in England, Wales and Scotland; flocks outside these regions pay an additional genetic evaluation fee of £95 per flock.

Recording fees set to decrease

A reduction in fees is planned for members submitting data online or electronically. This will consist of a £20/flock reduction in the basic fee with an additional reduction in the cost charged per ewe. The charges for clients submitting paper records are unchanged.

Fewer than 10% of Signet’s clients currently request paper copies of their reports, with all Signet reports now available in pdf format and many breeders also requesting a csv/excel format. With this in mind, from 1st March those clients requiring paper reports posting out to them will be charged an additional £20/flock (per annum) for this service.

To change your reporting preferences from paper reports to one (or more) of our electronic options, please head to https://signetdata.com/members-access/profile/ and scroll down to “Data reporting options”.

Ultrasound scanning fees to increase from 1^st March 2023

As part of AHDB’s on-going review of the services that Signet provides to industry, recommendations have been made regarding our current fee structure. From 1^st March 2023, there will be a shift away from using levy funds to support on-farm ultrasound scanning, a change that will be partially offset by a reduction in Signet’s basic recording fee for those clients supplying data online or electronically.

Where Signet are providing scanning services to sheep producers, the scanning fee will increase from £175 to £250 per visit, with the individual charge per lamb rising from £1.75 to £2.50 per lamb (plus VAT).

Where external service providers / freelance technicians provide scanning services, members will pay them directly at their set commercial rates

We understand that the net impact of these changes is that many breeders will pay slightly more for recording services after several years of unchanged fees. Though larger maternal/hill flocks that don’t ultrasound scan or those that opt to scan a smaller proportion of their lamb crop will see an overall reduction in their fees.

We understand it may mean that some of the smaller recorded flocks will opt to record on a weights-only basis or arrange to share a scanning visit with a neighbour; whilst larger flocks may decide to select a proportion of their lamb crop to be scanned and supply weight records for the rest.

On balance AHDB believe this approach is a fairer way to deliver a sheep recording service. These changes reward those breeders that are providing data in the most efficient manner and ensure that levy funding is targeted at those areas where it can have greatest impact; supporting new research and service developments, and the collection of novel phenotypes.

If you have any queries relating to the new fee structure or the approach to supplying online/electronic data then please get in touch with myself or one of the Signet team.