Food and feed hygiene for farmers and growers

Farmers and growers must follow basic food hygiene rules as primary producers. These form the first link in the 'farm to fork' chain under European regulations that apply in Northern Ireland.

Key food hygiene requirements for primary producers

Primary producers (farmers and growers) in Northern Ireland do not have to follow full Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems.

Legislation sets general hygiene rules instead, requiring you to:

• use clean water for cleaning and handling produce/livestock
• maintain clean premises, equipment and transport
• ensure personal hygiene (handwashing, protective clothing)
• control pests and waste
• keep basic records for traceability (eg who you supply, inputs used)

Exceptions exist for certain types of businesses that require HACCP-like systems, including:

• dairy/egg producers
• wild game primary producers supplying meat
• feed businesses (separate rules apply)

Regulations you should be aware of include:

• Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 – basic hygiene rules for all farms and growers
• Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 – extra rules for dairy, eggs, meat and fish producers
• Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 – general food safety and traceability
• Food Hygiene Regulations (NI) 2006 – local enforcement rules
• Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 – feed hygiene (if you produce or use animal feed)

You must also comply with separate rules on veterinary medicines and pesticides, alongside food hygiene laws.

Registration and enforcement

If you are a primary producer in Northern Ireland, you must register your holding with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland.

DAERA maintains the national register of approved and registered holdings. You must register if you produce:

• raw milk for sale
• eggs for supply to other businesses
• meat (directly supplying slaughterhouses or cutting plants)

DAERA carries out farm approval inspections and ongoing hygiene checks. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works alongside DAERA on enforcement, while local councils can investigate complaints about farm produce entering their area.

Read more about primary production hygiene for food and feed.

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.

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced by some fungi that can contaminate cereals and other crops. If not properly controlled, mycotoxins can pose serious risks to animal health through contaminated feed and to human health through the food chain.

The main types of mycotoxins that affect UK crops are:

• fusarium toxins in the field
• ochratoxin A in stored grain
• aflatoxins

There are legal limits on the levels of mycotoxins permitted in cereals and cereal products.

Legal limits you must meet

Different mycotoxins have specific maximum levels. For example, deoxynivalenol cannot exceed 1 mg/kg in cereals and cereal products, or 1.75 mg/kg in unprocessed maize. Zearalenone is limited to 0.35 mg/kg in cereals, ochratoxin A to 0.02 mg/kg in wheat, and aflatoxins to 2-4 µg/kg depending on the product.

Why this matters to your business

High mycotoxin levels cause real problems. Livestock suffer reduced feed intake, fertility issues and liver damage - particularly pigs and dairy cows. You risk rejected grain deliveries, disposal costs and limits on blending contaminated batches. Legally, breaching these limits can trigger prosecutions under the Food Safety (NI) Order 1991, plus import controls if sourcing from high-risk countries.

Practical steps to reduce the risks of mycotoxins

You can reduce the risk of mycotoxins through good agricultural practice. This involves carrying out a risk assessment for your crops and storage, and taking appropriate action to manage the risk. For example, you could:

• dry crops thoroughly before storage
• avoid intense rotation of fungi host crops
• reduce previous crop residue
• choose resistant crop varieties
• consider using fungicide

In storage, clean your facilities thoroughly, aerate the grain regularly and monitor for hotspots weekly. For more information, read the Food Standards Agency's guide on mycotoxins or download their code of practice for reducing mycotoxins in cereal (PDF, 423KB).

Veterinary medicines are strictly regulated in Northern Ireland to protect animal health, food safety, and public health from residues. Farmers must comply with legal maximum residue limits set by law and use medicines safely and responsibly to avoid enforcement.

The Medicines Regulatory Group (MRG), part of the Department of Health, authorises and monitors veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland. The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) enforces farm compliance through residue testing and farm inspections.

Key legislation remains the Veterinary Medicines Regulations.

Legal record-keeping requirements for veterinary medicine

You are legally required to keep the records of veterinary medicines used on your farm, including:

• prescriptions (vet name, date, product details)
• purchases (batch number, quantity, supplier, expiry)
• administration (animal/group ID, dose, route, date, operator)
• withdrawal periods (end date clearly marked)
• disposal (method, date, quantity)
• administration

You must keep this for at least five years after you have administered or used the medicine. Failure to keep proper records may result in enforcement action, including prosecution or fines.

DAERA provides downloadable record-keeping templates. Records may be checked by the Veterinary Service on farm visits.

From 1 January 2026, Windsor Framework rules apply fully - medicines supplied to Northern Ireland market must hold NI/EU marketing authorisation. GB-authorised products are prohibited for new stock. Legacy stock placed on the Northern Ireland market pre-2026 can be used/sold after.

Anti-microbial resistance

Anti-microbial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria become resistant to treatment. There is a recognised link between antimicrobial use in animals and resistance in humans. Farmers must use veterinary medicines responsibly.

You must:

• obtain prescription from suitably qualified person, eg veterinary surgeon
• use the correct medicine dose for the weight of the animal
• observe withdrawal periods strictly (longer for antibiotics)
• keep accurate records to confirm withdrawal periods have passed

DAERA's National Residue Monitoring Plan tests over 5,000 farm animal samples yearly for veterinary medicine residues like antibiotics. Failed tests may trigger warnings and retesting, or in serious cases result in full herd or flock quarantine, blocking all movements off-farm until cleared. Keep accurate treatment records and strictly follow withdrawal periods to avoid this risk.

'Pesticide' is a broad term, covering a range of plant protection products (PPPs) that are used to control pests. They include:

• insect killers - insecticides
• mould and fungi killers - fungicides
• weedkillers - herbicides
• slug pellets - molluscicides
• rat and mouse killers - rodenticides

Farmers and growers use pesticides to protect crops while growing and during storage. This helps safeguard human health and prevents food from becoming contaminated by fungi, mice, flies or other insects.

Legal controls on pesticides to protect health and environment

Legal controls ensure that pesticides do not harm human health, wildlife or the environment.

Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) set the highest amount of pesticide residue allowed in food after treatment. Food businesses must ensure that the food they produce or import complies with MRL requirements and pesticide legislation. 

Pesticide enforcement

In Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is responsible for ensuring the safe use of pesticides to protect the health of people and the environment. 

If you produce, import, store, sell or use pesticides in Northern Ireland, you must register annually as a pesticide operator with DAERA. DAERA defines pesticide operators as anyone handling plant protection products in agriculture, horticulture or amenity settings.

You also need an approved Certificate of Competence before applying professional pesticides. This covers training and assessment for a range of pesticide application methods. You can renew certificates every five years through providers such as CAFRE.

Read more about operator responsibilities regarding pesticides.

Pesticide record-keeping rules

You must keep records of the pesticides (or plant protection products) you produce, import, export, store or sell for five years. Professional users must keep records of products used for three years.

Records must show the product name, application time and dose, plus the crop and area treated. DAERA may inspect these records.

From 1 January 2026, professional users must follow new rules on record content and format. These rules require you to record promptly after each application:

• product authorisation number (MAPP)
• EPPO codes for crop/land (standardised plant names)
• BBCH codes for growth stage (eg 30-39 = stem elongation)
• plus existing requirements (product name, time, dose, area treated)

DAERA will not penalise missing new content details during the 2026 grace period. Use this time to update systems, train staff and access guidance. You must continue to meet existing legal requirements on record-keeping during this period.

From 1 January 2027, records must be digital/machine-readable.

See DAERA guidance on new plant protection product record-keeping requirements.