Changes to rules for livestock movements
Defra has announced new movement reporting rules for farmers, which are set to be introduced in England from July.
Farming Minister, George Eustice.
Under the existing animal movement regime, many farmers must report livestock movements to any other land they own or rent beyond a five-mile radius of their home farm. The reporting automatically triggers a six-day lockdown on the farm during which no animals can be moved.
The new scheme, to be phased in over 12 months from July, will allow all farmers to move their animals around any land they have registered and are using within a ten-mile radius without the need for reporting or standstills.
The aim of the new system is to boost the UK food and farming’s productivity by cutting unnecessary red tape and the amount of time farmers spend filling out forms. Defra also expects the new scheme to improve information about animal movements and land being used for livestock production, important for helping to prevent and control diseases.
Farming Minister George Eustice said: “Our farmers often face overly complex rules and regulations. Making it simpler for them to understand what they need to do will help them follow the rules and improve our disease control capability by ensuring better information on animal locations is being recorded on Defra’s livestock location database.”
The change has been welcomed by industry figures including chief executive of the National Sheep Association Phil Stocker.
“The move from the five-mile rule to a ten-mile rule will be a huge win for many sheep farmers, allowing separate holdings to be merged in some scenarios, reducing the reporting and recording burden for moving stock, and removing some of the difficulties created by standstill rules,” Stocker said.
Chairman of the NFU Livestock Board, Charles Sercombe, added: “I applaud these changes and we believe they have the potential to simplify the holding registration and livestock movement regime which has been a burden on the livestock industry for many years.”
The new system for registering land on which livestock are kept will be run jointly by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
Defra has said livestock farmers will receive guidance about the rule changes from May onwards.
Beef and lamb lines extended
Industry unites for ‘Year of British Food’
