Once cattle come off the wagon they are your responsibility, including any problem with the paperwork that came with them. This is what I would check before paying, what to record on arrival, and what to keep.
Before you buy cattle, check that each animal carries its official ear tags and that the tag numbers match a full passport, signed by the seller with the movement-off date. In England ask for a negative TB test within 60 days unless an exemption applies. On arrival, record the move in the passport and holding register within 36 hours, report it to the movement database within 3 days, and remember the 6-day standstill on the rest of the holding. Keep the passport, invoice and TB evidence.
Four things decide whether a purchase is clean: the animal, its passport, its TB position and who is reporting the move. If any one is unclear at the ringside or on the yard, I would not pay until it is sorted. After the money has changed hands, you own the problem.
That list is the England and Wales picture as of October 2026; our guide to ScotEID, EIDCymru and NIFAIS covers the other systems, and the livestock markets directory lists markets. The seller's side of the same deal is in cattle sale paperwork.
Read the tag in each ear, then read the passport. GOV.UK says you must not move any live cattle, bison or buffalo without a full passport, and inspectors check that tags match the identification documents, so you want the same match before the animal is yours. Then check sex, date of birth and breed. BCMS corrects errors free, but you cannot move the animal until the corrected passport is back.
The one-page A4 passport, type CPP52, is what most cattle have. GOV.UK says its heat-sensitive diamond in the bottom right corner fades if rubbed with a finger and thumb, which confirms it is genuine. Older chequebook-style and blue and green passports also exist.
Make sure the document is a passport. A notice of registration, CPP35, is issued when a passport was refused. An animal on one cannot enter the human food chain and can leave a holding only under a BCMS movement licence. Cattle born or reared in the UK before 1 August 1996 also need a licence to move. Our guide to cattle without a passport explains why that matters.
If a passport is missing, the seller has to sort it first. See lost, damaged and missing cattle passports.
Three entries follow every purchase, each with its own clock. In the passport you record the movement on within 36 hours of arrival, with your name, signature, the holding address and CPH number or a barcode label, and the date. The holding register is also updated within 36 hours. Then the movement is reported to the database within 3 days, which is BCMS in England and Wales and ScotEID in Scotland.
The trap on a purchase is assuming someone else did it. GOV.UK says markets and slaughterhouses may report for you, but as the keeper you are still legally responsible for movements being notified on time. For cattle bought at a market, ask on the day whether the on-movement is being reported for you. If you do not know, report it yourself.
Keep the receipt from an online report or the reference number from a telephone report. GOV.UK says no receipt or reference means the report failed and you must enter it again. If a wrong passport arrived with an animal, correct it on CTS Online. Our cattle movement 3-day rule guide has the nation-by-nation detail, and the cattle movement deadline calculator works out the date. For the register fields, see the holding register guide.
Yes, and it catches farmers who buy in the week they planned to sell. GOV.UK says that after cattle, sheep or goats arrive from another holding, none of those animals, or pigs, may leave for 6 days. Day 1 is the day after arrival, so a Monday arrival allows movement on the following Monday, which is day 7.
It holds your own cattle, sheep and goats as well as the new arrivals. Direct movement to slaughter, including to a slaughter-only red market, is exempt, and the guidance lists other exemptions. Scotland's standstill is 13 days, according to the Scottish Government cattle guidance.
Work back from your sale dates before you buy: stock booked out on Friday and bought in on Wednesday means one of the two has to move. Standstill is separate from the reporting deadline, though people blur them. Our sheep movement reporting guide shows the same table for sheep.
Ask for evidence of the pre-movement test. In England cattle must have a negative test within 60 days before moving, unless the animal, herd or movement is exempt, and GOV.UK tells buyers to request proof of pre-movement tests. Negative skin tests are recorded on the TB52c chart, which buyers commonly ask to see because it shows testing history.
Check the herd too. GOV.UK points buyers to the ibTB map to see the TB status of herds in England and Wales, and says APHA cannot give out individual herd details. A herd just off restrictions is a different risk to one clear for years, so ask the date of its last herd test.
If cattle arrive without the test they needed, GOV.UK says to isolate them as soon as possible, contact APHA and arrange and pay for a private TB test. APHA may restrict the cattle until they are tested. Bought-in cattle may also need a post-movement test, between 60 and 120 days after arrival, if your herd is in the Low Risk Area and they come from the High Risk Area, the Edge Area or Wales. Our bovine TB testing and movement rules guide has the exemptions and the post-movement rules.
Beyond the legal checks, health status is a judgement call. BVD is the one I would ask about first. In England BVD control is voluntary, and the BVDFree England scheme closed on 31 July 2024. AHDB says it can no longer provide certificates and that historic results are no longer accessible. Its advice to buyers is to contact the previous owner for historic test results and to speak to the vet who holds the testing records.
That means there is no single database to look up, so ask the seller for the vet's test results and the date of testing. If the answer is vague, price the risk in. Take the quarantine and testing plan to your own vet.
If you plan to sell as Red Tractor assured later, buy with that in mind. The standard says livestock sent to slaughter need a minimum residency of 90 days for cattle and that if bought from a market, the market must be assured for the animals to be sold as assured. Our Red Tractor audit checklist covers what assessors ask.
For each batch I would keep:
The holding register is kept for 10 years from 31 December of the year of the last entry. GOV.UK says to keep TB evidence for 3 years if you rely on an exemption and TB52c charts for 3 years and 60 days. Our farm invoice requirements guide covers invoices.
FarmHQ is a farm office app for UK cattle and sheep farms, in beta. It keeps purchases, tags, movements and medicines on one animal record, with Ask Farmer Joe drafting entries for you to confirm. See pricing.
Check that the ear tag numbers in both ears match the passport, that the sex, date of birth and breed are right, that the seller has signed the movement-off entry, and that the document is a passport rather than a notice of registration. GOV.UK says cattle must not move without a full passport.
In England and Wales record the movement on in the passport and holding register within 36 hours, and report it to BCMS within 3 days. Scotland reports to ScotEID within 3 days. A market may report for you, but you remain legally responsible, so check and keep the receipt or reference number.
Usually the seller must have a negative pre-movement test within 60 days before the move, unless an exemption applies, such as animals under 42 days old. Ask for proof. You arrange a post-movement test 60 to 120 days after arrival if your herd is in the Low Risk Area and they come from a higher-risk area.
Not in England. The BVDFree England scheme closed on 31 July 2024 and its certificates and historic results are no longer available. AHDB advises contacting the previous owner for historic test results, and your vet for testing records. BVD control in England is voluntary, so ask the seller for evidence.