GovWire

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:

• bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
• brucellosis
• enzootic bovine leukosis

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 animals:

• 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.

How compensation is calculated for certain diseases of poultry (kept birds)

Defra uses poultry valuation tables to calculate compensation for poultry culled to control the spread of the following diseases:

• salmonella (compensation is only payable for breeding flocks of chickens or turkeys)
• avian influenza (bird flu)
• Newcastle disease

For avian influenza and Newcastle disease you will only receive compensation for healthy birds that are culled. You will not receive compensation for birds affected by disease.

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

Defra will subtract any money you receive from the slaughterhouse, or from an insurance policy that covers loss as a result of disease, from your compensation.

The valuation tables take into account several factors including:

• the species, age and sex of the bird
• what it was farmed for (for example, meat or eggs)
• the cost of rearing the birds
• any income derived from the birds (for example, from production of hatching eggs)

The valuation tables for 50 different types of birds are updated 5 times a year.

Some types of bird, such as pedigree birds and grandparent breeding flocks, are not included in the tables. In such cases the government will appoint a valuer to set compensation.

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).