Every farm record is on its own clock, and the clocks start on different days. This is the retention period for each record a livestock farm holds, with the official source beside it.
Keep medicine records for at least 5 years after the medicine was given, the cattle holding register for 10 years from 31 December of the year of the last entry, and the sheep and goat register for 3 years after the last animal leaves. TB charts need 3 years and 60 days. Tax records need 5 years after the 31 January deadline, or 6 years for companies and VAT. Minimum wage records need 6 years, and Red Tractor feed records 2 years. The table gives each source. See our holding register guide.
There is no single answer, because each record sits on its own clock and the clocks start at different moments. Medicine records run from the day the medicine was given. The cattle register runs from the end of the year of your last entry. Tax records run from a filing deadline. Red Tractor adds periods of its own.
My rule is to work out which clock a record is on before anything goes in the skip, not after. The longest are the cattle register at 10 years and the tax, VAT and wage records at 5 to 6 years. This is the position as of October 2026 and is not legal or tax advice: ask your accountant about accounts and your vet about medicines. Where I found no fixed period at an official source, I say so. The register detail is in our livestock holding register guide, and the medicine clock is in the 5-year medicine record rule.
These are the animal records, set by the Veterinary Medicines Regulations and the traceability rules.
| Record | How long | From when | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine purchase, administration and disposal records, with proof of purchase | At least 5 years | After it was given or disposed of, even if the animal has gone | VMR 2013 regulation 20 |
| Cattle holding register (England) | 10 years | From 31 December of the year you last made an entry | GOV.UK |
| Sheep and goat holding register (England) | 3 years | After the last animal dies or leaves the holding | GOV.UK |
| Sheep and goat movement documents you receive (England) | 3 years | From the date the animals arrive (no copies needed if both moves were reported online) | GOV.UK |
| Cattle passports | No period set | It travels with the animal and goes back to BCMS within 7 days of death | GOV.UK |
| TB test charts (form TB52c) | 3 years and 60 days | As evidence of testing (England, Scotland, Wales) | GOV.UK |
The usual trap is that the medicine clock does not stop when the animal is sold or dies. The passport has no period because you do not keep it: what you keep is the register entry. See our guides to TB testing and movement rules and sheep movement reporting for the reporting side.
Sales and purchase invoices are not a separate category: they follow whichever tax or VAT period applies to you.
| Record | How long | From when | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self Assessment records (sole traders and partners) | At least 5 years | After the 31 January submission deadline of the tax year (a 2022 to 2023 return filed by 31 January 2024 means until the end of January 2029) | GOV.UK |
| Limited company accounting records | 6 years | From the end of the last financial year they relate to (longer in some cases) | GOV.UK |
| VAT records, including purchase invoices | At least 6 years | Business records for VAT | HMRC VAT notice 700/21 |
| National Minimum Wage records | At least 6 years | From the end of the pay reference period after the one they cover | HMRC manual |
| PAYE records | 3 years | From the end of the tax year they relate to | GOV.UK |
Payroll is the awkward one: PAYE says 3 years and minimum wage says 6. I would keep the whole wage file for 6 years. Our farm wage records guide lists what the file holds, and farm bookkeeping and HMRC records covers the rest.
The Red Tractor beef and lamb standards (version 5, modified February 2025) put a period on some records and none on others. The dairy standards match on these.
The dairy standards add 12 months for teat cup liner change records. Red Tractor's period is a minimum for the audit and can be shorter than the law, so where the law sets a longer one, the longer one wins.
Red Tractor opened a consultation on changes to the beef and lamb and dairy standards on 22 September 2026, closing 3 November 2026, and says nothing changes until 2027. For what assessors do with the paperwork, see our Red Tractor audit checklist.
For the cattle register, no: all four nations say 10 years, though the start is worded differently. Wales says 10 years after the last entry. Scotland says 10 years from the end of the calendar year, and Northern Ireland's DAERA says the herd register must be kept for 10 years.
Sheep are less uniform. Scotland says copies of movement documents must be kept for 3 years, and Wales says they must be retained for at least three years. Neither page gave a period for the sheep register itself, so check your own government's guidance rather than assuming England's 3 years.
Feed shows the biggest gap. Northern Ireland's DAERA pack says feed purchase and sale records must be kept for 3 years. I found no fixed English figure on GOV.UK, so Red Tractor's 2 years is the only number I can cite there. Ask your local authority trading standards for certainty. The systems are in our guide to ScotEID, EIDCymru and NIFAIS.
Keep them by year, not by type. One folder per calendar year, holding that year's invoices, medicine records and wage files, makes disposal a single decision. Then keep a short list of exceptions that outlive the year, chiefly the cattle register.
Do the sums once. Medicine and invoice paper for 6 years covers the 5-year medicine rule and the 6-year VAT and company rules together. Registers get 10 years. Training records get 2 years after the person leaves, so note the leaving date when it happens. A record that exists only in a kitchen drawer is not really retained, so keep a copy somewhere other than the farm laptop. The usual trap is clearing the office in a quiet winter and finding in spring that a 10-year register went with the rest.
FarmHQ is a farm office app for UK cattle and sheep farms, in beta, that keeps the medicine book, movements and receipts together for you to confirm. It starts free on the Trial Farm, with paid plans on the pricing page. A spreadsheet and a labelled box do the job too, if someone else knows where they are.
At least 5 years after the medicine was administered or otherwise disposed of, whether or not the animal has since been sold, died or gone to slaughter. That is regulation 20 of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013, and Red Tractor sets the same 5 years for purchase and administration records.
In England, 10 years from 31 December of the year you last made an entry. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also say 10 years, with the start counted from the last entry or the end of that calendar year. A showground, market or abattoir register is 3 years.
Sole traders and partners keep Self Assessment records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline of the tax year. Limited companies keep accounting records for 6 years from the end of the financial year. VAT records, including purchase invoices, are kept for at least 6 years.
National Minimum Wage records must be kept for at least 6 years, while PAYE records need 3 years from the end of the tax year. Keeping the whole wage file for 6 years covers both, and it makes it easier to answer an HMRC request.