Sole Occupancy Authorities

The NFU is to lobby DEFRA to permit new Sole Occupancy Authorities (SOAs) to be set-up and is asking for producers’ help.  SOAs are where farmers are able to group together land farmed under several different holding numbers.  Movements between different holding numbers within an SOA are not subject to the 6-day standstill rules and currently they are exempt from pre-movement TB testing if the land in all the holdings is in the same risk area (i.e. all high risk or all low).  SOAs are assessed by the Animal Health & Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) before approval is given.

Since July 2012 no new SOAs have been allowed and producers have been unable to add holding numbers to an existing SOA.  The NFU is trying to highlight the fact that this is increasing red tape and, until the livestock movements system will begin to be reformed (delayed until 2016), farmers should be able to create new SOAs to link blocks of land within 10 miles of the main holding and in the same TB risk area.  The NFU has placed a survey on its website to gather information from producers to support its petition.