The single most common reason a collection is delayed is not the collector and not the farmer, it is the ground between them. Farm access fallen stock collection becomes markedly harder from October onwards, when tracks that carried a loaded vehicle all summer turn to mud and field gateways stop being usable at all. Martlands is a family-run, DEFRA approved business based in Burscough operating a licensed fallen stock and ABP collection service across the North West, and a large part of holding the statutory response window through the winter is decided by decisions farms make about access before the weather turns.
This article is about the practical side of getting a heavy vehicle to a carcass and away again, and about what the regulations expect where access genuinely limits what is possible.
What the Collection Vehicle Actually Needs
A fallen stock vehicle is a substantial piece of equipment carrying a winch and a sealed body. It needs a firm approach, room to turn or a safe reversing line, and headroom clear of low branches and cables. It does not need to reach the exact spot the animal died. Every vehicle on our farm and fallen stock collection fleet is licensed for the material it carries, and fallen cattle and sheep travel as Category 1 ABP collection material. In most cases the sensible arrangement is that the farm brings the casualty to a fixed collection point and the vehicle never leaves hardcore.
The failure modes are predictable. A gateway that has been poached by cattle all summer. A yard entrance blocked by a machinery or a feed delivery. A field track with a soft section halfway along that only reveals itself when a loaded vehicle is on it. A locked gate with the keyholder twenty miles away. Each of these turns a routine collection into a return visit, and a return visit puts the twenty-four hour duty of care under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 at risk.
Building a Collection Point That Works All Winter
The most useful thing a livestock farm can do before winter is establish one hard-standing collection point that stays usable in the worst conditions and is reachable from the public road without crossing soft ground. It should be sited away from the feed store, away from the main stock buildings for biosecurity reasons, and out of sight of any public footpath. It needs a cover or a container so that birds, foxes, dogs and other livestock cannot reach the material, and it must not drain toward a ditch, a watercourse or a yard drain.
Once that point exists, the collection question stops being a weekly negotiation. Whatever has died, wherever it died, it comes to the same place and the vehicle goes to the same place. Our guidance on safe on-farm storage of fallen stock covers the siting and construction considerations in more detail.
Moving a Heavy Casualty Safely
Moving an adult cow across a wet field is a genuinely hazardous job and one that causes serious injuries every year. It needs the right equipment, a loader or a winch rather than improvisation, and it needs someone in charge who is not working alone. Where a carcass is in a position that cannot be reached safely, say so when you book rather than attempting it. We will discuss the options, which may include a different vehicle or an agreed timescale for the ground to dry, and we will record the reason.
A documented access problem that delays collection is defensible. An undocumented delay is not, and the difference is a telephone call at the point of discovery rather than a week later.
Upland and Remote Holdings
Fell and moorland farms face the sharpest version of this. Animals die at distance from any road, tracks are steep and stony, and the weather closes access with no notice. Our experience across the Cumbria fallen stock collection area and the Pennine ground served through Ingleton fallen stock collection is that the arrangement which works is a fixed lowland point and a farm quad or tractor doing the retrieval. Upland holdings that try to route the collection vehicle onto the hill spend the winter rearranging visits. Our note on how fallen stock collection supports upland and remote farms goes into this further.
The same principle applies on the low-lying mossland farms north and west of Burscough, where peat ground carries a vehicle poorly after rain even though it looks flat and firm. Holdings served through Tarleton fallen stock collection know that ground better than anyone.
Information That Makes a First-Time Visit Work
When a driver has not been to a holding before, three pieces of information prevent almost every problem. The approach road and the side the entrance is on, because many farm entrances are invisible until you are past them. Any height, width or weight restriction on the approach, including low bridges and weak culverts. And a contact number for someone who will be on the holding at the time. Bookings placed through the KoLeCt system hold that detail against your holding number so it only has to be given once.
Where Access Genuinely Cannot Be Achieved
Occasionally an animal dies somewhere a vehicle cannot reach and a tractor cannot retrieve it, for instance in a gill or on a flooded washland. The duty is to arrange collection as soon as reasonably practicable and to record why it could not happen sooner. It is not to bury the animal, which has been unlawful in the United Kingdom since 2003 outside very limited remote area exceptions that do not apply to holdings within our service region. Speak to us, record the position, and act as soon as the ground allows.
Getting Set Up Before the Weather Turns
The right time to have this conversation is September, not January. Our farm and fallen stock collection team can record your access notes, your preferred collection point and any restrictions before the winter starts. To arrange that, or to book a collection, call 01704 776977 or use the contact us page. Same-day collection is available, and every visit produces the Commercial Document your assurance scheme will expect to see.
