Compensation for animals culled to control animal diseases

Question

Accepted Answer

The government has powers to cull (kill) animals to control the spread of some animal diseases.

You will generally receive compensation for any healthy animals culled. You may also receive compensation for animals affected by the disease in question.

You generally will not receive any compensation for animals that:

die before they are culled
you voluntarily kill independently of an official cull

You will not be compensated for consequential losses (income that the animal would have generated in the future, for example through laying eggs or producing offspring).

How compensation is calculated for bovine tuberculosis (TB) and certain other cattle diseases

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) uses market prices to calculate compensation for cattle culled to control the spread of TB and the following diseases:

Every month Defra publishes a table of compensation values (average market price for same category cattle) for 51 different categories of cattle.

The categories are based on an animal’s:

age and sex
pedigree status
type (beef or dairy, for example)

Sales data for around 1.5 million cattle are collected each year to make sure the table values adequately reflect market prices. For non-pedigree animals 1 month of price data is used to calculate compensation. For pedigree animals 6 months of price data is used to capture as many sales as possible.

Sales volumes naturally fluctuate throughout the trading year. At the start of the year the minimum required number of sales is set by Defra for each compensation category. Defra will use sales data from the previous year to determine the amount of data needed. They do this to be confident that compensation rates are within 20% of the average for all sales.

If Defra statisticians decide that there are not sufficient sales at the start of the year then the category value for compulsorily slaughtered animals will be assessed by a valuer appointed by the government. This practice is known as independent valuation.

You can look at cattle compensation values for the current month and past months.

Almost all cases of TB compensation are determined using table valuations. If there is not enough sales data for a particular category of cattle in any month, compensation will be determined by using one of the following:

the most recently available table value for that category
a valuation provided by a valuer appointed by the government

For BSE, brucellosis and enzootic bovine leukosis, compensation is paid for any animals culled, including animals affected by the diseases.

For TB, compensation may be reduced for reactor cattle from herds with overdue TB tests.

All animals in an approved finishing unit (AFU), licensed finishing unit (LFU) or a (pre-movement testing) exempt finishing unit (EFU) are destined for slaughter only and have no breeding potential. Therefore, for the purposes of valuation, any cattle in an AFU, LFU or EFU are classed as commercial, and compensation is paid according to the relevant valuation table for non-pedigree animals.

Compensation for certain diseases in poultry and other captive birds

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) uses poultry valuation tables (or specialist valuers for specialist stock) to determine compensation for poultry culled to control the spread of:

salmonella (in breeding flocks of chickens or turkeys)
bird flu (avian influenza)
Newcastle disease

For bird flu and Newcastle disease, you’ll get compensation for any healthy birds that are culled by government.

You will not get compensation for birds that are sick or have died.

For bird flu, APHA will assess the health status of birds to determine the compensation you’re entitled to. They’ll do this either:

at the start of the planned culling
within 48 hours of the decision to cull (whichever is sooner)

For salmonella (in breeding flocks of chickens or turkeys) you’ll get compensation for all culled birds, except for birds classed as rejects when the flock is killed at a slaughterhouse.

The valuation tables take several factors into account, including:

the species, age and sex of the bird
what the bird was kept for (for example, meat or eggs)
the cost of rearing the bird
any income derived from the bird (for example, from producing hatching eggs)

Tables for around 50 different types of birds are updated 5 times a year (November, January, March, June and September) to make sure rates follow average market values.

Some types of birds, such as pedigree birds and grandparent breeding flocks, are not included in the tables. The government will appoint a valuer to assess the value of these birds.

Compensation arrangements for other diseases

You may be entitled to compensation if your animals are culled as part of a strategy to control another notifiable disease. Compensation may be reduced, or not apply, to animals affected with the disease.

Defra will publish information on compensation arrangements during an outbreak of an exotic notifiable disease (a notifiable disease that is not currently present in Great Britain).

Compensation for animals culled to control animal diseases

Applies to England

How compensation is calculated for bovine tuberculosis (TB) and certain other cattle diseases

Compensation for certain diseases in poultry and other captive birds

Compensation arrangements for other diseases

Is this page useful?

Help us improve GOV.UK

Help us improve GOV.UK

Cookies on GOV.UK

Compensation for animals culled to control animal diseases

Applies to England

How compensation is calculated for bovine tuberculosis (TB) and certain other cattle diseases

Compensation for certain diseases in poultry and other captive birds

Compensation arrangements for other diseases

Updates to this page

Sign up for emails or print this page

Related content

Is this page useful?

Help us improve GOV.UK

Help us improve GOV.UK