New regulations introducing mandatory sheep carcase classification and price reporting came into force this week in England, bringing the sheep sector into line with the long-established systems already in place for beef and pigs. The changes apply to abattoirs processing 2,000 or more sheep per week on a rolling annual average, who must now be registered with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and operate the system as a legal requirement, with plants processing between 1,000 and 1,999 head per week able to opt in voluntarily. Commenting on the change, BMPA CEO Nick Allen said that the new rules “were agreed across industry some time ago and will improve price reporting as many more abattoirs will have to classify and price report,” adding that “this will help bring more transparency to the market.”

Under the new rules, in-scope abattoirs must classify all eligible sheep carcases under 12 months of age using the official classification grid based on conformation and fat class, with grading carried out by trained and licensed classifiers. Abattoirs are required to record and retain classification results, carcase weights, prices paid and evidence of correct presentation and labelling, and to make these records available to the RPA on request. They must also report classification and pricing data both to suppliers and to AHDB, where it will be anonymised and aggregated for market reporting. Allen said the BMPA “looks forward to seeing more information being made available about the prices paid for lambs” as the system beds in.

The government’s stated aim is to improve consistency, transparency and comparability in the sheep market. Until now, classification and price reporting have been used on a voluntary and variable basis, making it difficult for producers to compare returns between plants or understand how pricing relates to carcase quality, and ministers see this as part of a wider set of reforms focused on fairness and transparency across the food supply chain.

New grading technology implementation frustrated

Automated classification systems are permitted under the regulations, but only following a separate approval process, with applications not expected to be considered until February 2027. Until then, all classification done by new, state of the art grading systems must also be carried out manually by licensed classifiers. The two sets of results must then be compared to confirm that the automated results match the manual ones. 

On this point, the BMPA’s main disappointment is that some of our members have already completed 12 months of such comparisons. The only difference being that slightly different specifications for the classification were used. It would seem logical that, if the automated system can replicate manual results using one set of specs, then it should be able to replicate it using the new ones. But this argument hasn’t been accepted, so companies must hold-off being able to use their new systems (and the efficiencies and cost saving that will bring) for another year.

Nick Allen commented that this is a source of frustration for members and that the legislation is “holding back new technology being introduced until there is a sufficient database of information,” adding that the association believes “it is unnecessary to have such a long delay.”

But the main focus of this new legislation is improved transparency and consistency across the abattoir sector, which will lead to a fairer marketplace for farmers and a more level playing field; and that is most definitely a good thing.

A link to the full government guidance is available here.