Fallen stock collection in Heywood covers the working farmland that most people do not associate with Greater Manchester at all. North of the town the ground rises quickly towards Knowl Moor and Ashworth Valley, and the pastoral farms up there – sheep flocks, small beef herds and a strong scatter of horse liveries – farm within sight of one of the most densely populated conurbations in the country. Martlands provides fallen stock and ABP collection across Greater Manchester and the wider North West from our DEFRA approved facility in Burscough, and the Heywood fringe sits directly on our regular rounds via the M62 and M66.
Farming Beside a Conurbation Changes the Job
The legal duties are the same here as anywhere – on-farm burial and burning has been banned since 2003, and the keeper’s duty of care requires fallen stock to be collected within 24 hours of discovery – but the practical pressure is sharper on the metropolitan fringe. The footpaths above Heywood carry heavy walking traffic out of the towns, dogs run off the lead across grazing land daily, and a carcass left in a field will be found, photographed and reported faster here than almost anywhere in our operating area. Prompt licensed collection is therefore reputation management as well as compliance, and it removes a genuine biosecurity risk in the same visit, because scavengers moving between a carcass and the living flock are one of the fastest routes for disease to travel around a holding.
Dog Worrying Losses Are a Recurring Part of the Heywood Workload
The same footpath traffic that makes discretion important also produces losses of its own, and sheep killed or fatally injured by dogs are a recurring reason for calls from the farms around Heywood. These are distressing collections for the keeper, often involving several animals at once, and our crews handle them with that in mind – promptly, without fuss, and with the paperwork the farmer may need if the incident is being pursued with the dog’s owner or reported further. Whatever the cause of the loss, the animal is transported in dedicated vehicles and processed at our own licensed facility, and our guide to what happens to fallen stock after collection explains that end of the process for keepers who want to know.
Cattle, Horses and the Testing Requirement
For the small suckler herds on the better ground and the liveries scattered along the valley, the service works identically – one call covers any farmed animal. Where the loss is a bovine over 48 months of age, the law requires BSE testing before disposal, and because Martlands operates as a DEFRA approved sampling centre that requirement is discharged within our own process rather than becoming a second arrangement for the keeper to make.
Records That Keep the File Straight
Every Heywood collection is issued with a Commercial Document and a Waste Transfer Note, forming the audit trail that inspections and assurance assessments work from. We are members of the National Fallen Stock Company and manage bookings through the KoLeCt system, so the record runs unbroken from phone call to disposal – the kind of file that keeps an inspection conversation short.
Covering the Fringe From Valley to Moor
The same crews that serve Heywood cover the pastoral country either side along the Pennine edge – see our dedicated pages for Ramsbottom fallen stock collection and Littleborough fallen stock collection, or the county-wide picture on our Greater Manchester fallen stock collection page. With the M66 and M62 linking the patch straight back to our base, same-day collection is the working norm.
Arranging a Collection in Heywood
If you farm or keep animals around Heywood and have a loss to deal with, call Martlands on 01704 776977. We will arrange prompt, discreet collection, handle any required sampling and issue the full set of compliance documents in one visit.
