BEEF and dairy herds must plan the culling of any cattle born before August 1996 carefully to avoid losing out on Older Cattle Disposal Scheme compensation, warns Eblex.

The scheme, which closes at the end of December, pays about £230 per head, for cattle which are too old to enter the food chain under BSE rules.

After this time, all such animals will have to be disposed of as fallen stock at the farmer's own expense, which could be about £150 perhead.

This means a net cost of nearly £400 per head from delaying the culling of older cattle beyond the end of the year.

Incineration capacity has been increased by 1,500 animals per week, ahead of an anticipated surge in demand in the last four months of the scheme.

This should ensure the scheme is able to cope with all the 155,000- plus cattle born before August 1996 estimated to remain on British farms.

But it will only be able to do so if these cattle are scheduled into the available daily slaughtering slots with licensed abattoirs carefully over the rest of the year.

Recognising the problems any last-minute rush to use the scheme would cause, the Rural Payments Agency has a set a deadline of September 30 for booking in all animals to be slaughtered under OCDS from October 1 to December 31.

Under these circumstances, Eblex advises every producer to: ● check their latest BCMS statement list of OCDS animals against current stock to identify any cows born before August 1996 remaining on-farm; ● make a list of all such animals and plan the best time to cull them; ● book in these animals directly through local OCDS abattoir or collection centre by ear tag number as far in advance of their planned culling time as possible; ● ensure any animals to be disposed of in the final quarter of the scheme are booked in by the end of September to avoid disappointment.

The RPA has undertaken to treat all genuine reasons for being unable to present animals on the allocated day with sympathy, getting abattoirs to place these stock on a reserve list to be accommodated at the earliest opportunity.

It is an offence to send cattle born before August 1996 to an abattoir which slaughters cattle for the human food chain.

The RPA helpline on 0118-968- 7333 can give further guidance on any aspect of the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme.