When an animal dies, you need a collector the same day, and you want to know the price before you ring. This guide sets out the three legal routes, what is known about cost as of October 2026, and how to compare quotes fairly.
There is no single national price for collecting fallen stock. You have three legal routes: join the National Fallen Stock Scheme (NFSCo) and book an approved collector from your postcode list, arrange collection directly with an approved knacker, hunt kennel or renderer, or use an approved incinerator. Membership of NFSCo is free, but each collector sets its own charge, per head for cattle, sheep and pigs. Burying or burning on the farm is banned in nearly all places. The disposal rules guide has the law, and the scheme cost guide has the detail on NFSCo.
There are three legal routes. The first is the National Fallen Stock Scheme, run by the National Fallen Stock Company (NFSCo). You join, get a list of approved collectors and prices for your postcode, and book the one you choose. The second is to arrange collection yourself with an approved knacker, hunt kennel, maggot farm or renderer. The third is 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. The disposal rules guide explains why burying or burning on the farm is not a fourth option.
On price, the honest answer is that it varies by collector, species, size of animal and region. Neither GOV.UK nor NFSCo's public pages carry a price list, as NFSCo sends each member the tariff for their postcode. We give no figure we could not source from an official page. Treat any single UK-wide number you see online with suspicion.
What makes up the bill is clearer. There is the collection charge, usually per head for cattle, sheep, pigs and horses. For cattle over 48 months old there is also the cost of taking the BSE samples, which falls on the owner. In NFSCo there are small administration fees in the months you use it.
Joining is free for farmers and horse owners, with no annual membership fee. NFSCo works with around 100 collectors. Each collector sets its own charge for the postcodes it serves. Cattle, sheep, pigs and horses are priced per head. Other species are priced by the weight or volume of a standard container. Collectors can change their charges four times a year, so an old price may no longer apply.
To join, ring NFSCo on 01335 320014. They ask for your contact details, holding number, collection point addresses, the stock you want collected and your bank details. You then receive the terms and conditions, the collector tariffs for your postcode and a members commitment document. A collector in the scheme must collect every species it has priced and may not refuse a reasonable request.
As of October 2026, NFSCo's own pages list some small extras on top of the collection price. You get one monthly statement, paid by Direct Debit. A posted statement carries a £1.95 administration fee and an emailed one £1.45, but only in a month when you use the service. The annual compliance statement costs £5.25 plus VAT, and you can opt out. More on the scheme is in the NFSCo cost guide.
Using the scheme is not a legal requirement. GOV.UK lists two ways to get fallen stock collected: use an approved premises directly, or use NFSCo. Plenty of farms have a long-standing arrangement with a local knacker or hunt kennel and are happy with it. The collector must be approved, and the carcass must travel with an approved transporter.
The trade-off is price certainty. A private arrangement has no postcode tariff reviewed every quarter behind it. The price is whatever you agree. If you rely on one operator, ask now for their prices in writing, and ask what they charge for a weekend or bank holiday call.
Two cautions for cattle. First, an animal over 48 months old must reach an approved BSE sampling site, so the collector must be able to take it there inside the time limits in the BSE testing guide. Second, DAERA says that in Northern Ireland carcasses of bovines over 48 months must not go to hunt kennels, so ask any operator what they can legally take. Our BSE testing eligibility checker shows whether the test applies to an animal.
In England, GOV.UK says burning or burying fallen stock on the farm is banned, to prevent disease spread and pollution. The exemptions are narrow. Authorisation C3 covers remote areas, including the Isles of Scilly, Lundy Island and Coquet Island. C4 covers natural disasters, and C2 covers pet animals and horses. The pet exemption does not stretch to sheep, cattle, pigs, goats or poultry.
An approved incinerator is a different thing from a fire or a pit. GOV.UK says that if you burn only carcasses or parts of carcasses, the incinerator needs approval from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). A site burning less than 50kg an hour applies as a low capacity site. Exhaust gas must be held at 850 degrees Celsius for 2 seconds, or 1100 degrees for 0.2 seconds. You must record burn temperatures, keep the records for 2 years and have the unit serviced at least yearly. Mixing carcasses with other waste brings in the Environment Agency.
AHDB says pig keepers in England may use a low capacity incinerator on the holding where the pigs lived. Scottish Government guidance also lists an approved on-farm unit as an option. We could not find a reliable price for these units, so ask APHA first whether a particular unit and your stock are covered.Ring two or three approved collectors before you need them, or read the list for your postcode if you are in NFSCo. Price alone can mislead, because two quotes often cover different things. Ask each one the same questions and write down the answers with the date.
Speed matters as much as price. The law says fallen stock must be collected without undue delay, and a cheap collector who cannot come until Tuesday costs you in other ways. Until then, keep the carcass covered so animals and birds cannot reach it. GOV.UK says lidded, leakproof bins that are kept clean can be used for temporary storage, for example in a high mortality spell such as lambing.
Two sets of paperwork follow every death: the disposal record and the animal record. For disposal, GOV.UK says animal by-products must travel with a commercial document. The top copy stays at the destination, and the farm and the transporter keep copies. Business Companion, the Trading Standards guidance site, says the records must be kept for at least two years and shown to an inspector on request. They show the date, quantity, who sent and carried it, where it went and a signature.
For the animal, a cattle death must be reported to BCMS, the passport returned and your register updated, all within 7 days. The cattle death reporting guide has the detail, including the faster BSE clock. For sheep, goats and pigs, the death goes in your own holding records: see the holding register guide, the sheep flock register guide and the pig keepers guide.
Fallen stock does not enter the food chain, so the carcass has no withdrawal period to worry about. Keep the collector's note with the death record, as a Red Tractor assessor will want both: see the Red Tractor audit checklist. FarmHQ, which is in beta, keeps the BCMS death report, collector receipt and any BSE result against one animal record, and Ask Farmer Joe drafts the entry for you to confirm.
The core rule is the same across the UK: fallen stock must be collected and disposed of by an approved route without undue delay. What differs is the list of places where burial is allowed, and which body gives the guidance.
Scottish Government guidance says on-farm burial is banned, with a derogation for some areas classed as remote, and that burial should be the very last option. It lists three disposal options: your own arrangement with an approved operator, an approved on-farm incineration unit, or NFSCo. It also says an unrecoverable carcass must be reported to the local APHA office straight away. For Wales, Trading Standards guidance on Business Companion names the remote islands as Ramsey, Caldey, Bardsey and Flat Holm.
DAERA's Northern Ireland guidance lists Rathlin Island and the Copeland Islands as remote areas. It says an animal that cannot be retrieved, for example one trapped in a bog, may be buried or burned only with prior authorisation from DAERA's Veterinary Service. DAERA describes NFSCo as collecting from farmers with bovines under 48 months and from horse owners, so ask NFSCo or DAERA what the scheme covers on your holding before relying on it. The BSE testing ages and time limits are the same across the UK, as the BSE guide explains.
There is no single national price. Each collector sets its own charge by postcode, usually per head for cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, and the price varies by species, size and region. Inside NFSCo, collectors can change prices four times a year. For cattle over 48 months old, the owner also pays for taking the BSE samples. Ask for the tariff for your postcode and compare it in writing.
Joining is free for farmers and horse owners, with no annual membership fee. You still pay the collector's charge for each collection. As of October 2026, NFSCo's own pages also list a £1.95 posted or £1.45 emailed statement fee in months you use the service, and an optional annual compliance statement at £5.25 plus VAT.
No. GOV.UK says you can use an approved premises directly or use NFSCo. Arranging collection with an approved knacker, hunt kennel or renderer is legal, as long as the operator is approved and the carcass goes with an approved transporter. The difference is price certainty: NFSCo publishes a postcode tariff to members, while a private price is whatever you agree.
Not an open fire or a pit. Burning and burial of fallen stock on farm are banned, with narrow exemptions. An incinerator that burns only carcasses needs approval from APHA, and one burning under 50kg an hour applies as a low capacity site. It must reach set exhaust temperatures, and you must keep temperature records for 2 years. Check with APHA before buying a unit.
Keep your copy of the commercial document that travelled with the carcass. Business Companion says these records must be kept for at least two years and produced to an inspector on request. Separately, report a cattle death to BCMS within 7 days, return the passport and update your register. Keep the collector's note with the animal's death record.