The importance of proper disposal of fallen stock and animal by-products comes down to one hard fact – this is the area of farm and food business compliance where the rules are enforced through paperwork, and where the absence of the right paperwork is treated as evidence in itself. Every carcass and every container of animal by-product that leaves your premises must be traceable from your gate to a licensed disposal point, and an inspector does not need to witness anything going wrong to take action. They simply ask to see the records. As a licensed operator providing fallen stock and ABP collection across the North West and nationally, Martlands sees at first hand what separates the businesses that pass inspections comfortably from those that find themselves explaining gaps they cannot fill.
Who Enforces Proper Disposal and What They Actually Check
For livestock keepers, the Animal and Plant Health Agency oversees compliance with the animal by-product rules, while food businesses such as butchers, caterers and manufacturers also answer to local authority officers during hygiene and environmental health visits. What both have in common is that they work backwards from documentation. An officer reviewing a farm does not begin by asking what happened to a particular animal – they begin by asking for the movement and disposal records, and any animal that appears in the herd or flock register without a matching collection record becomes a question the keeper has to answer.
The Legal Duties Behind Every Collection
On-farm burial and burning of livestock has been illegal in the UK since 2003, with only very limited exceptions for designated remote areas, so there is no lawful route for dealing with fallen stock on the holding itself. Under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013, farmers carry a duty of care to ensure fallen stock is collected within 24 hours of discovery. There is a further layer for cattle – fallen cattle over 48 months of age must be BSE tested before disposal, and Martlands operates as a DEFRA approved sampling centre so that this testing is handled as part of the collection rather than as a separate arrangement the farmer has to organise.
The Paperwork That Proves Compliance
Proper disposal is demonstrated, not declared. Martlands issues a Commercial Document and a Waste Transfer Note for every collection we carry out, which gives the customer a continuous paper trail covering what was collected, when, from where and to which licensed facility it was taken. Those documents are precisely what a DEFRA inspection or a Red Tractor assessment expects to see retained on file, and our guide to commercial documents explained sets out exactly what each field on that paperwork means and how long it should be kept.
Assurance Schemes Raise the Bar Further
Farm assurance adds a second audience for the same records. A Red Tractor assessor will expect fallen stock arrangements to be in place before losses occur, not arranged after the event, and will look for collection documentation that matches the farm’s own mortality records. Our article on preparing for a Red Tractor assurance audit walks through the evidence an assessor asks for and how a standing arrangement with a licensed collector satisfies it. The same documentation also feeds sustainability reporting and ISO 14001 certification for food businesses, so a single compliant collection record often serves several purposes at once.
Why a Licensed Collector Is the Foundation of It All
None of the above works unless the collector at the start of the chain is properly licensed, because the documents are only as credible as the operation issuing them. Martlands holds Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT, Site Licence EAWML/100236 and Animal By-Products Licence APB/CCN21/373/8002, operates a DEFRA approved processing and sampling facility, and is a member of the National Fallen Stock Company. Our farm and fallen stock collection service is built around same-day availability, because the 24-hour duty of care leaves no room for a collector who cannot respond quickly.
Getting Proper Disposal Right From Today
The businesses that never worry about inspections are the ones with a standing arrangement in place before anything dies or any bin needs emptying. If you keep livestock or produce animal by-products anywhere in Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Cumbria, Greater Manchester or North Wales, call Martlands on 01704 776977 to put compliant collection and complete documentation in place, or reach us through our contact us page to discuss your requirements.
