On the back of a continuing battle with bovine TB, a series of measures have been introduced to try and reduce the risks of the disease spreading between cattle.

Changes to the rules on cattle movements were announced last year and included tighter controls around linked holdings. From the 1 July 2012 no new sole occupancy authorities (SOAs) are to be approved or additions to existing SOAs allowed. An SOA is a group of premises under the same management which are linked to overcome the six-day standstill when animals are moved between those premises. Existing SOAs can continue, but the exemption from pre-movement testing for movements from holdings in high risk areas to low risk areas is no longer available. No new cattle tracing system (CTS) links between holdings in high and low TB risk areas will be approved. Existing links (between high and low areas) without an expiry date will be removed on a phased basis.

These changes will not prevent the movement of animals between holdings, but movements will have to be reported. Those producers affected will be contacted by British Cattle Management Service (BCMS). Farmers who would have previously applied for a CTS link (between holdings in high and low TB risk areas) now have the following options.

1. The parties agree to the landlord becoming the keeper of the cattle when they are on the rented land. Movements between the holdings will need to be reported and recorded as normal including pre-movement testing and any standstill provisions.

2. Where keepers cannot or do not take up option 1 above, they will need to secure a temporary county parish holding (CPH) number for that land. This can be undertaken via the Rural Payments Agency.

A CTS link is where a CPH number is linked with another which allows the keeper to move cattle between the linked holdings without having to inform BCMS of the movement. These are often used with grazing licences or where producers have multiple holdings.

It would appear that if option 1 was undertaken, the landlord would then become liable for all the identification and movement cross-compliance responsibilities which, if not adhered to, would involve possible single payment penalties. This is an important consideration to protect single farm payment receipts. In many cases, however, the landlord would not have anything to do with the cattle and could not be considered the 'keeper'.

Some further cattle control measures have also been introduced. These include:

  • the removal of the exemption which allows cattle on a farm for under 30 days to be removed without being tested
  • the removal of the exemption from pre-movement testing of cattle from higher TB risk herds to agricultural shows where cattle are housed or remain there for more than 24 hours.
  • reducing the compensation paid if tests are overdue by more than 60 days.

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