Keeping cattle, bison and buffalo in England and Wales
The rules and processes cattle keepers must follow to ensure cattle can be traced at all times.
A cattle keeper is anyone who’s responsible for cattle, bison or buffalo either temporarily or permanently.
This can include:
- farmers
- people who run livestock markets, showgrounds and calf assembly centres
- transporters
- those buying and selling cattle
- people who run slaughterhouses and lairages
Cattle keepers in England or Wales must follow these rules and processes to make sure cattle, bison or buffalo can be traced at all times.
These are legal requirements to help prevent and contain the outbreak of disease. If you do not follow them, you could get movement restrictions on your herd, reduced subsidy payments, or be prosecuted.
The rules are different for:
For advice, contact the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS).
British Cattle Movement Service
Email: bcmsenquiries@rpa.gov.uk
Telephone (England): 0345 050 1234
Telephone (Wales): 0345 050 3456
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
Find out about call charges
You can speak to an adviser on webchat. Webchat is only available in English.
You can also view this page in Welsh (tudalen gwe yn Cymraeg).
Get a county parish holding (CPH) number
You must first register where you’ll keep cattle with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). You’ll get a county parish holding (CPH) number, which you’ll use for tasks such as ordering ear tags and reporting cattle movements.
Get a temporary land association (TLA) or a temporary county parish holding (tCPH) number
You may need to get a temporary land association (TLA) or temporary county parish holding (tCPH) number to link the land or buildings where you’ll keep cattle with your CPH number.
You must do this if:
- you have a 7000 series landless keeper CPH number (you may have this type of CPH number if you do not own any of the land where you’ll keep cattle)
- you use extra land temporarily to keep cattle (for example, you rent an extra field or building for less than a year)
Register as a cattle keeper
After you’ve registered your land, you must get a herd mark. You must also register as a cattle keeper with BCMS so that you can register cattle births and report movements and deaths.
Keep your registered details up to date
You must contact RPA, APHA and BCMS if your details change after you register with them. Find out when and how to contact them.
Ear tagging: get new or replacement ear tags
How to get new or replacement official ear tags from approved suppliers. Also includes how to give feedback on ear tags, pastern bands or boluses.
Keep a holding register
You must record cattle births, movements, deaths and changes to ear tag numbers in a holding register (also called a herd register). Find out how to do this and when to update it.
Cattle births: what to do after a calf is born
What you must do when calves are born, including official cattle breed codes to use when registering a birth.
Get a cattle passport
How to get a new or replacement cattle passport or a movement licence for cattle that have been refused a passport. Also includes how to get continuation sheets for full passports and barcode labels to identify your holding.
What to do when you move cattle
What you need to know to move cattle on and off a holding, either temporarily or permanently. This includes sending cattle to a market or slaughter.
Imported cattle or cattle moved into England and Wales
What you need to do after you’ve imported or moved cattle into England or Wales, including passports and ear tagging rules.
Exporting cattle or moving cattle out of England or Wales
What you need to do when you export or move cattle out of England or Wales, including passports and ear tagging rules.
Cattle deaths: what to do when cattle die on your holding or at slaughter
What you need to do when cattle die on your holding and when you send cattle to slaughter. Also includes information on what slaughterhouse operators must record and report at slaughter.
Use Cattle Tracing System (CTS) Online and CTS Web Services
Use CTS Online to register cattle births and report movements and deaths to BCMS. Reporting these events is a legal requirement. You can also use compatible farm software to do this using CTS Web Services.
Cattle inspections: what to expect
What to expect from a cattle identification inspection, including how holdings are chosen for inspection and how you can prepare.
Updates to this page
Published 6 May 2014Last updated 10 December 2024 + show all updates
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6 breed codes have been added to the Official Cattle Breeds and Codes Maremmana MARE Maremmana Cross MAREX Pajuna PAJ Pajuna Cross PAJX Rubia Gallega/Galician Blond RUB Rubia Gallega/Galician Blond Cross RUBX
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Clarified that you need a TLA or tCPH number if you have a 7000 series landless keeper CPH number (you may have this type of CPH number if you do not own any of the land where you’ll keep cattle).
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Clarified when you need to get a temporary land association or temporary county parish holding number.
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Added in a link for users to access the new webchat service for BCMS.
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First published.