Defra has proposed changes to simplify livestock movements, though farmers’ organisations have warned this could potentially make keeping sheep more burdensome.

Defra proposes to remove the derogation to batch record breeding ewe movements when keepership remains the same. However, as this would lead to a requirement to individually record and report moves to a different holding number, farming groups have warned could add to the burden on farmers.   

The concerns were voiced by the NFU at a meeting with Defra officials on Wednesday (19th August). Over the course of the meeting NFU, Defra and RPA representatives discussed proposed changes to the current livestock movement regime, including CPH allocation, movement reporting requirements and the introduction of separation units as an alternative to whole farm six day standstills.

NFU livestock board chairman, Charles Sercombe said afterwards, “Defra have come up with a number of proposals that if implemented, will reduce the burden for some livestock keepers. I believe Defra have a real opportunity to radically improve the current regime, but I fear that unless changes are made some of the proposals could in fact increase the level of paperwork on farms, particularly for sheep producers.”

He said that batch recording of breeding ewes and the non-EID batch tag has significantly reduced the bureaucracy and cost of EID, and warned that a planned removal of this could lead to a significant increase in operating costs for farmers.

Mr Sercombe added that the union’s livestock board would continue to work with Defra to develop a “simplified movement system that reduces the burden on farm while maintaining good traceability.”

Tweet