Food and feed hygiene for farmers and growers

Farmers and growers producing or using animal feed (including farm-mixed rations) must follow separate feed hygiene rules from food hygiene. These apply under European Union regulation applicable in Northern Ireland via the Windsor Framework.

Who needs to comply

You count as a feed business if you:

• produce compound feed or feed materials on-farm for other businesses
• store feed commercially for others
• mix rations using bought ingredients (even for own livestock)

Key animal feed hygiene requirements

Under the Windsor Framework, feed products produced in Northern Ireland or placed on the NI market continue to follow EU rules.

Feed businesses must follow good practice (similar to food hygiene) that requires them to:

• keep feed stores clean and dry
• prevent contamination (separate from chemicals, pesticides)
• use authorised feed materials/additives only
• implement HACCP-based procedures
• maintain traceability records regarding feed inputs, outputs, storage conditions and complaints
• label farm-produced feed correctly

Key animal feed regulations

Animal feed regulations specify authorised additives (such as vitamins and binders), maximum contaminant levels (like arsenic and dioxins), banned ingredients, permitted nutritional claims, required names/descriptions for feed materials, and mandatory labelling information.

Regulations include:

• Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 – feed hygiene (HACCP procedures, clean storage, registration for feed businesses)
• Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 – feed marketing and labelling (authorised materials, correct claims, traceability)
• Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 – general feed law (safety, traceability records for all farms)
• Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 – feed additives (only authorised additives from approved suppliers)

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) enforce the core feed regulations in Northern Ireland, implemented through:

• Animal Feed (Composition, Marketing and Use) Regulations (NI) 2016
• Animal Feed (Hygiene, Sampling etc.) Regulations (NI) 2016

Registration and enforcement

If you mix/store feed commercially, you must register separately with DAERA under feed law and ensure that your facilities, storage, personnel and record-keeping meet the requirements.

Purely self-feeding farms have lighter record-keeping only requirements.

DAERA inspects storage/records during farm visits and implements a programme of sampling and testing of feeds and feed ingredients. They can also issue improvement notices for non-compliance and escalate failure to comply to prosecution.

Genetically modified (GM) materials in animal feed

The UK imports around 20% of animal feed materials from outside the EU, some containing authorised GM material that must meet strict legal criteria.

You must check supplier declarations and label animal feed if it contains over 0.9% authorised GM material. No label is needed for tiny unavoidable traces below this level. For more information, see FSA's guidance on GM material in animal feed.