A CPH number comes before everything else a livestock keeper does: no tags, no movements, no register without it. Here is how you get one, what follows, and what to do when land or keeper changes.
In England, apply to the Rural Payments Agency for a CPH number for the land and buildings where the animals will live, up to 6 weeks before they arrive. Then register with APHA for a flock or herd mark, which goes on your tags, and with BCMS if you keep cattle. You need this for any livestock, including pets. Tell RPA and APHA within 30 days of any change. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own routes. Tags and registers follow in our sheep EID tags and flock register guide.
You apply to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The GOV.UK CPH application guidance says you can apply up to 6 weeks before the livestock arrive. Its example is a 20 April application for animals arriving on 1 June. Apply early, because delay is the usual trap.
If you are over 18 and either not registered with the Rural Payments service or registered without a CPH number, you apply online. If you already hold a CPH number, ring the Defra rural services helpline on 03000 200 301 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm) or use the amendment form.
Have to hand your contact details, the business if there is one, the easting and northing of where the animals will be kept, and your security answers. Cattle keepers also give their vet practice for bovine TB testing, and ear tag numbers and movement dates for animals already on the land.
RPA then emails a validation link, which you must click within 12 hours, plus your single business identifier (SBI) and customer reference number (CRN). Keep that email, because later changes use both numbers.
Anyone who keeps livestock on land or in buildings, for business, hobby or as pets. Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry all need one. Deer and camelids are voluntary, though deer keepers must register if they move animals. Keepers of fewer than 50 poultry, or any captive birds, register with APHA instead, which issues the number.
A CPH identifies a holding, not a person. A holding can cover land and buildings within 10 miles of the animals' main area, as the GOV.UK guide on moving sheep and goats explains. List each location before you apply, because land outside that circle needs its own number.
One CPH can cover several species. Add or drop a species and you tell RPA and APHA. Pigs and goats carry extra paperwork, covered in our pig keepers guide and our goat keepers guide.
The CPH identifies the land. The animals are identified by a flock mark (sheep) or herd mark (cattle, goats, pigs), issued by APHA. The flock or herd mark guidance says to register after you have the CPH number and before you move livestock onto the land. Email customer.registration@apha.gov.uk or use the same helpline.
Give APHA your CPH number, the species, how many, and the purpose. Allow about 10 working days.
The mark is printed on your tags. Cattle, sheep and goat tags must come from approved suppliers, who ask for your CPH number and mark when you order, so do not leave this to the week the first ewes arrive. Suppliers are in our EID tags directory.
Cattle, bison and buffalo keepers must also register with the British Cattle Movement Service. RPA shares your details with APHA and BCMS, and the CPH page, updated on 22 July 2026, says most applicants now register with RPA only. If nothing arrives from APHA or BCMS, ring them. The wider switch is in our BCMS to LIS guide.
Rent for more than a year and you get a CPH number from RPA. For under a year, the TLA and tCPH guidance applies. With an existing CPH you ask APHA for a temporary land association (TLA) or temporary CPH (tCPH). Without one, you get a 7000 series CPH from RPA first.
A TLA suits land within 10 miles of your main area, in the same bovine TB risk area, that you use alone. It counts as part of your CPH, so moves to it need no report and no standstill, and tags carry your own flock mark. A tCPH suits land further away, or nearby land you want to run separately. It is its own holding with its own register, and moves to and from it are reported.
Both last up to a year. Contact APHA a month before expiry. An expired TLA can be reactivated by phone if nothing has changed, but an expired tCPH cannot, so you apply again.
You cannot get either where your animals would mix with someone else's, or for common land. Common land bordering your holding and registered with RPA as linked to it is treated differently, as our sheep movement reporting guide sets out.
Same idea, different offices. This covers the registration step only. Cattle systems are in our ScotEID, EIDCymru and NIFAIS guide.
Scotland: you register with the Rural Payments and Inspections Division for a CPH, with APHA for a flock mark (sheep) or herd mark (goats), and with ScotEID for the annual inventory. The Scottish registration guidance says to do this before keeping animals, and elsewhere mentions 30 days from first keeping them. Register first. Landless keepers get a 7000 CPH code but record animals against the holding where they stand.
Wales: use Manage My CPH on RPW Online, with the contact centre on 0300 062 5004. The flock or herd mark still comes from APHA. The Welsh CPH rules FAQs add a 30-day duty to tell RPW of land ownership or tenure changes.
Northern Ireland: DAERA, not RPA. The route is an Animal Group Number application, with separate amendment and reactivation forms, listed on the DAERA identification and registration page. Ring DAERA before you buy animals.
Tell RPA and APHA as soon as possible and within 30 days. The update your details guidance lists address, telephone number, business name, where you keep livestock (taking on or giving up land), species, and stopping altogether, including when someone else takes on your farm. Cattle keepers also tell BCMS.
CPH changes go through the online amendment service, where you can add or remove land, update livestock, request another number or close one. Have your SBI, CRN and CPH number ready. Tell APHA as well.
A change of keeper is the awkward one, because the guidance sets out no separate form. My advice: the outgoing keeper reports that they have stopped, the incoming keeper registers or amends their own details before any animals move, and both ring the helpline first. Do not assume the number follows the farm.
Keep the old register. The 3-year clock for sheep and goat registers runs from when the last animal leaves, as in our holding register guide.
It is the key the other records hang from. The tag carries your flock or herd mark. The holding register records the CPH number of every holding animals come from or go to. The movement report goes against the CPH number at each end. Inspectors check the three against each other.
The usual trap is the mismatch. Sheep moved to a rented field with its own CPH number are a reportable movement, even if it adjoins yours. Sheep moved to land sharing your CPH number are not. The register must name the right number to show which it was.
For cattle, the CPH also sits behind passports, calf registrations and 3-day reports, as in our cattle movement 3-day rule guide.
FarmHQ is a farm office app for UK cattle and sheep farms, in beta. It keeps your CPH numbers against your holdings so each movement is drafted against the right one for you to confirm. Registering as a keeper stays with RPA and APHA.
GOV.UK does not give a fixed time for a new CPH number. It says apply up to 6 weeks before animals arrive, and apply as early as possible to reduce the risk of delay. Amendments to an existing number are confirmed by email within 10 working days, longer if information is wrong.
Yes. The GOV.UK guidance says you must get a CPH number for land and buildings used to keep livestock for any purpose, including pets. Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry are covered. You also need a flock or herd mark from APHA before you move the animals on.
No. The CPH number identifies the land and buildings and comes from RPA. The flock mark (sheep) or herd mark (cattle, goats, pigs) is issued by APHA and appears on your tags. You quote both when ordering tags, and the 6-digit mark is what is printed on each one.
As soon as possible and within 30 days. That covers a new address, phone number or business name, taking on or giving up land, adding or stopping a species, and stopping keeping livestock altogether, including when someone else takes over your farm. Cattle keepers also tell BCMS.
Under a year, get a temporary land association (TLA) if it is within 10 miles of your main area and you will graze it alone, or a temporary CPH (tCPH) if it is further away. Both last up to a year. You apply to APHA on the GOV.UK form.