NSA welcomes changes to sheep carcase reporting
18th January 2026
New regulations to standardise deadweight carcase price and classification reporting across the UK are a positive step for greater trust and transparency, according to the National Sheep Association (NSA).
The regulations cover mandatory carcase classification and price reporting from all abattoirs, except the lower throughput plants, providing sheep farmers with useful classification data based on the EUROP grid.
This will mean more clarity over prices paid, considering different cutting specifications used by abattoirs serving different markets, and will bring the same standards of mandatory reporting to lambs that are already in place for the beef and pig industries, overseen by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
NSA is one of several industry bodies that has worked closely with DEFRA on this new regulation in advance of its introduction earlier this month.
NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “I welcome the introduction of this new regulation on which DEFRA has worked closely with industry. It’s a helpful step to simplify and give more clarity to sheep farmers over deadweight price comparisons between processors.
“It also means that for all but the smallest abattoirs we will now see sheep carcase grading come under the control of the RPA, bringing us in line with cattle grading.”
‘Demystifying the lamb market’
Mr Stocker added that both these improvements further ambitions to create better transparency and trust through the supply chain.
“Farmers selling live through marts won’t be directly affected, and we are in a better place with choices and greater transparency in how we choose to sell our lambs,” he concluded.
NSA policy manager Michael Priestley added that the association was aware of confusion over a sizeable gap in price of two deadweight buyers due to differences in carcase weight due to trim specification.
“Moving from a voluntary to a regulated, standardised approach will demystify the lamb market for many,” he said.
The deadweight prime lamb segment accounts for about 45% of the lamb supply in the UK, with 55% of lambs being sold liveweight, and this change in the regulation doesn’t impact at all on farmers selling via live marts.
The new pricing mechanism caters for two cutting specifications, domestic retailer and export, and uses a coefficient to standardise the price.
Regulations are introduced in England from Monday 12th January, while Welsh abattoirs will report under Wales’s new regime from Wednesday 28th January, and Scotland and Northern Ireland are also set to introduce the regulations early in the year.
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