Minister McConalogue launches ‘AIM Services’ app

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, is pleased to launch phase 1 of a new digital application which allows sheep farmers to notify their farm-to-farm movements online. The safe and secure app developed by DAFM is named ‘AIM Services’ and when fully rolled out, will allow keepers to notify all livestock movements directly to the department without the use of paper.

Minister McConalogue stated that it is his ultimate goal to provide all livestock keepers with a digital alternative to paper in notifying all required animal movement information directly to DAFM. The first phase of the AIM Services app will allow sheep farmers to notify their farm-to-farm movements from their phone and means they will no longer need to post the “pink copy” of the dispatch document to their local RVO. Minister McConalogue highlighted the benefit of the app in reducing the administrative burden on farmers:

Minister McConalogue encouraged all sheep keepers to engage with this user-friendly app in starting their transition to a digital notification system. He advised that officials from his department’s AIM Division will be available at the DAFM stand at the National Ploughing Championships this week to assist keepers in downloading, installing and using the app.

Further development of the app is planned for later in 2023. This will allow sheep (and goat) keepers to complete their 2023 annual census through the app. It is expected that the AIM Services portal will be extended to other sheep movements and to other species throughout 2024 and beyond.

Phase 1 of AIM Services allows sheep farmers to digitally notify sheep movements onto their holdings from other farms in a safe and secure environment. The mechanism for notifying these movements through the app will mirror the current paper system. As is currently the case, the responsibility for notifying such movements rests with the receiving keeper.

To submit a digital movement, the receiving keeper will download the app onto their mobile device and, by following four simple steps, will record information from the dispatch document that accompanied the animals to their farm. Step 3 will involve submitting a photo of either the pink/white dispatch document that accompanied the animals.

An added practical benefit to the recipient keeper is that where a movement has been successfully notified via the app, they will no longer be required to post the pink copy of the dispatch document to their local DAFM Regional Offices, as is the case with the paper notification system. They will, however, continue to be required to record the movement data and their flock register and to keep copies of the pink and white dispatch documents there for record keeping purposes.

The use of AIM Services app is optional. Keepers who do not avail of the app must continue to notify sheep farm-to-farm movements onto their holding to their DAFM RVO in the usual manner. The keeper of the source herd is similarly required to keep the yellow copy of the relevant dispatch document in their flock register for inspection purposes.

The app is now available for download from the DAFM website by all registered sheep keepers with an active agfood.ie keeper account by either:

1. Scanning the QR code below on a mobile device;

or

2. Typing the following URL https://AIMSPortal.agriculture.gov.ie into a device.

- To access the app, keepers must have an active Agfood.ie herd keeper account. Those who do not are encouraged to login on the agfood.ie, choose the option to ‘Register’ and to follow the instructions to obtain a username and password.

- DAFM has written to all registered sheep keepers in the last number of days, advising them of this development. A step-by-step guide to downloading and installing the app was included with each letter.

- The app will instantly notify the keeper when the notification has been successfully submitted to the AIM system.

- The movement details can then be instantly viewed on both the app and the AIM database, which can be accessed via the keeper’s agfood.ie account.

- Where the other keeper to the transaction also downloads the app, the movement will be notified to their device as soon as it has been successfully submitted by the recipient.

- The movement details will also be visible in the agfood.ie account of the other keeper, regardless of whether they use the app.

The following documents are available on the DAFM website:

• step-by-step guide to downloading and installing the app
• user manual
• FAQs

These can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/68686-animal-identification-movement-aim/#aim-portal-services