Ulverston sits at the heart of Furness farming. The town’s auction mart draws dairy, beef and sheep from across Low Furness, the fells toward Coniston and the Cartmel peninsula, and the A590 links it all to the M6. Ulverston fallen stock collection needs to reach farms that range from productive lowland dairy units near Urswick to fell sheep holdings above Lowick and saltmarsh grazing on the edge of Morecambe Bay.
Martlands is a family-run, DEFRA approved collector based in Burscough, Lancashire, offering fallen stock and ABP collection across Cumbria and the North West. We are NFSCO members, and same-day collection is often available when a loss is reported early in the day.
Ulverston fallen stock collection across Furness
Farming around Ulverston
Low Furness, the limestone country south of Ulverston around Urswick, Pennington, Swarthmoor and Dalton-in-Furness, is good grassland, and supports dairy herds and beef finishing. Along the coast road through Bardsea and Aldingham, farms run down toward the shore. North of the town the land rises quickly. Around Lowick, Spark Bridge, Penny Bridge and Greenodd, and up toward the Blawith fells and the southern end of Coniston Water, the farming is hill sheep and suckler cattle on rougher ground with walled intakes and open fell. The official guidance on fallen stock and safe disposal of dead animals sets out the legal duties in full.
East across the Leven estuary, the Cartmel peninsula has its own mix of dairy, beef and sheep, with saltmarsh grazing around Flookburgh and Cark. Many Furness farms run land in more than one of these areas, which makes a collector who covers the whole district useful.
The rules every Furness farmer must follow
Burial and burning of fallen stock on farm have been banned since 2003, and that applies to fell farms as much as lowland units. Farmers have a duty of care to arrange collection promptly, ideally within 24 hours of discovery. Our farm and fallen stock collection service provides a Commercial Document and Waste Transfer Note with every collection. The government also publishes detailed guidance on animal by-product categories and disposal.
For cattle, notify BCMS of the death within 7 days and return the passport. Fallen cattle over 48 months must be BSE tested, and Martlands is a DEFRA approved sampling facility, so this is handled as part of the collection. If you suspect a notifiable disease, report it to APHA immediately and leave the carcass where it is until you are told it can be moved.
Categories for dairy, beef and sheep
Cattle over 12 months and sheep over 12 months or with a permanent incisor erupted contain specified risk material, so their carcasses are Category 1 and go through our Category 1 ABP collection. Calves and lambs under those thresholds, and other species, are generally Category 2 under our Category 2 ABP collection. A load that mixes the two is treated as Category 1. Give us the species, number and approximate age of animals when you book so the paperwork is right first time.
Access on the A590, fell lanes and the coast
The A590 is the spine of the district, running from the M6 past Lindale, Haverthwaite and Greenodd into Ulverston and on to Barrow, and most collections start there. The difficulty is the last mile. Fell lanes above Lowick and Blawith are narrow and steep, with stone walls on both sides and few places to turn. In winter they can be icy when the valley bottom is clear.
Saltmarsh grazing brings a different problem. The Morecambe Bay tides come in fast across flat ground, and stock grazing the marsh around the Leven estuary and the Cartmel shore can die in places that are only safely reachable at certain states of the tide. Never put yourself at risk retrieving a carcass from the marsh. When it is safe, move it to hard standing near the farm, cover it, and tell us where it is. A carcass at the farm gate is always quicker to collect than one at the end of a marsh track.
Mart days and busy periods
Ulverston auction mart sale days bring stock movements and, occasionally, animals that die in transit or shortly after arrival home. Any death after a sale is still the responsibility of the keeper, and the same reporting and collection rules apply. Lambing on the fells and winter housing on dairy and beef farms are the other periods when losses rise. If you expect a difficult lambing, keep a covered, vermin-proof holding point ready so carcasses can be stored safely until collection.
That holding point matters for biosecurity too. Choose a spot on hard standing away from livestock buildings, feed stores and watercourses, ideally close enough to the road that a collection vehicle does not need to drive into the yard. Cover carcasses with a sheet or keep them in a lidded container so that ravens, crows, foxes and dogs cannot reach them, which is a real issue on open fell ground. Clean and disinfect any trailer, loader bucket or sledge used to move a carcass before it is used near healthy stock again.
Surrounding areas we serve
Furness farmers often run land across the wider district. South-west of Ulverston, our Barrow-in-Furness fallen stock collection covers the end of the peninsula and Walney. North into the Lakes, our Windermere fallen stock collection serves the central fells, and to the east our Kendal fallen stock collection covers the Lyth Valley and South Lakeland. Across the whole county, our Cumbria fallen stock collection reaches from Furness to the Solway and the Eden Valley.
Ulverston fallen stock collection paperwork and assurance
Keep every Commercial Document and Waste Transfer Note with your farm records. Red Tractor assessors and milk buyers may ask for evidence that fallen stock was removed by a licensed collector. Bookings are managed through our KoLeCt system, so each collection is logged with its date and category, which makes matching up BCMS notifications straightforward.
To arrange Ulverston fallen stock collection, call Martlands on 01704 776977 or book through our contact us page. Reporting a loss early, with clear directions to where the carcass can be reached, gives us the best chance of same-day collection.
