Cost-sharing: What does the livestock levy involve?
Livestock farmers in England are set to face a compulsory levy to contribute to the cost of managing exotic diseases.
Proposed for introduction in 2012, farmers will be forced to pay an annual fee to help pay for surveillance and preparation for the outbreak of diseases, such as bluetongue, classical swine fever and foot-and-mouth.
The fee will make up half of the £44m DEFRA spends annually on exotic disease surveillance, and those who refuse to pay the levy will be hit by fines.
How will it work?
The levy will be collected from the newly-established animal health body.
Livestock farmers will be required to register annually the maximum number of animals they keep at any one time of year.
DEFRA has proposed this is done using a self-declaration form which is filled in each year and is based upon existing livestock registration requirements.
The form will ask farmers to detail the maximum number of animals they kept the previous year, as well as an estimate of the maximum they expect to keep in the current year.
Depending on the type of livestock, the new body will calculate how much levy has to be paid, based on each animal place
(see table).
The amount paid for each animal is based on the estimated gross output of each sector; hence, dairy farmers would pay £4.80/head, while sheep farmers would pay 9p. It will be adjusted each year for differences in actual and estimated numbers.
DEFRA said it hoped payments could be differentiated in future depending on a farm’s risk factors, such as location and
biosecurity measures.
Will anyone be exempt?
DEFRA has calculated it would cost £15.88 to collect and process a registration fee, so it has set out minimum thresholds from payments.
Under the recommendations, this means that 10% of the England’s sheep flock would be excluded from the
payment. About 90% of the country’s poultry keepers would also escape paying the levy.