A short list of fallen stock collectors with their own websites, and the national scheme most of them work through. Check approval before you rely on anyone.
Check approval before you book: GOV.UK lists approved animal by-product premises for Great Britain, and DAERA lists approved premises for Northern Ireland. Only the businesses that say so on their own pages are described here as approved. The list is not complete, so ask other collectors for their approval number.
No paid placements. Run a UK collection business that fits here? Email hello@farmhq.ai with your business name, area covered and website.
There are three legal routes. You can join the National Fallen Stock Company scheme and book an approved collector from the list for your postcode. You can arrange collection directly with an approved knacker, hunt kennel, maggot farm or renderer. Or you can use an approved incinerator. GOV.UK says the farmer must arrange collection and disposal, and pays for it, so the bill is yours whichever route you pick.
Burying or burning on the farm is not a fourth option. In England it is banned except in a few remote places, and the other nations keep short lists of their own. Our fallen stock disposal rules guide has the law, and our collection costs and options guide compares the three routes.
No. GOV.UK lists two ways to get fallen stock collected: use an approved premises directly, or use the scheme. Plenty of farms use a local collector they know. The trade-off is price certainty, as the scheme sends each member the collectors' tariffs for their postcode, while a private arrangement is whatever you agree.
NFSCo says joining is free, with no annual fee, and you pay the collector's charge for each collection. Collectors set their own prices, so an old price may be out of date. Our National Fallen Stock Scheme cost guide sets out what the scheme charges and what it does not cover.
Ring two or three before an animal dies, and write down the answers with the date. Price alone can mislead, because two quotes often cover different things.
Animal by-products travel with a commercial document, and the records must be kept for at least two years and shown to an inspector on request. Keep the collector's note with the animal's death record.
For cattle, a death must be reported to BCMS, the passport returned and your register updated, all within 7 days. Our cattle death reporting guide has the detail. For sheep, goats and pigs the death goes in your own holding records: see the holding register guide. A Red Tractor assessor will want both, as the audit checklist shows.
Start with the National Fallen Stock Company. It is free to join and sends the collector prices for your postcode. You can also ring an approved collector directly. GOV.UK publishes a list of approved animal by-product premises for Great Britain, and DAERA publishes one for Northern Ireland. Ask any collector for its approval number.
Yes. The farmer arranges and pays for collection whichever route is used. There is no single national price: each collector sets its own, usually per head for cattle, sheep and pigs, and it varies by species, size and region. Ask for the tariff for your postcode and compare quotes in writing.
The law says without undue delay. For cattle over 48 months old that need a BSE test, contact a collector within 24 hours of the death. Keep the carcass covered until it is collected so that animals and birds cannot reach it.
No. GOV.UK says you can use an approved premises directly or use the scheme. A private collector must be approved and the carcass must go with an approved transporter. The scheme gives you a postcode tariff, whereas a private price is whatever you agree.