Sheep carcase classification in Scotland

Deadweight price reporting

Slaughterhouses must report deadweight prices weekly to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)

These requirements apply to sheep aged less than 12 months at the time of slaughter.

Which animals to report on

You must include the details of all individual sheep that were:

• purchased on a deadweight basis
• aged less than 12 months at the time of slaughter
• slaughtered during the previous week, from Monday to Sunday, inclusive

Do not report:

• prices for animals purchased from liveweight markets
• prices for animals killed in your slaughterhouse for a third party on a contract-kill basis
• flat rate prices

How to report on deadweight pricing

For each animal you must report the:

• date of slaughter
• dressing specification used
• new season lamb or old season lamb category
• cold weight
• conformation class, including subdivisions, if applicable
• fat cover class, including subdivisions, if applicable
• market price
• kill number

Each of these details is represented by numbers or letters as described below. These number and letter codes should be combined to form a long string for each animal.

Read the How to classify sheep carcases guidance for more information on the classification requirements.

• Date of slaughter

The date the sheep was slaughtered should be reported in the format YYYYMMDD.

• Dressing specification

Use the code ‘0’ or ‘1’ that indicates which specification was used as shown in the table below.

Category

Use the sheep carcase classification categories ‘NS’ or ‘OS’ as shown in the table below.

Cold Weight

Report the cold weight of the carcase in kilograms to one decimal place.

Conformation class

Use the conformation classes ‘S’, ‘E’, ‘U’, ‘R’, ‘O’, ‘P’ for each category of carcase as shown in the table below. You should also include subclasses, if applicable.

• Fat cover class

Use the fat classes ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘5’ for each carcase as shown in the table below. Include optional subclasses, if applicable.

Price

Use the price that you paid the supplier for each animal on delivery to the slaughterhouse:

• in pence per kilogram
• excluding VAT
• before deductions for incidental costs incurred by the slaughterhouse

Incidental costs may include:

• procurement
• transport
• insurance
• processing and slaughter
• carcase classification charges
• meat inspection
• lorry wash
• AHDB levy
• any other ‘below the line’ charges

A ‘below the line’ charge is a small and insignificant cost compared to the value of the carcase.

Kill number

Use the 8-digit kill number assigned to the sheep. This can include leading zeros before the value of the kill number if it’s less than 8 digits long. For example, if the kill number is ‘1234’, you would report ‘00001234’.

How to report the information

You must email the above information to AHDB at dead.weight@ahdb.org.uk by 11.59pm on Monday each week.

You must also notify AHDB if there is no price data to be reported in any one week.

Read the AHDB Guidance for slaughterhouses in England on reporting deadweight sheep prices for more information on how to report the information to them.

You must provide this information to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) if they ask for it.