Aug 15, 2025
There has been a change to the Transport QA Standards for 2025/ 2026 and beyond:
The Transport QA committee has asked that there be a clearly defined date range regarding the transport of stags to slaughter. The agreed standard is:
4.9. TRANSPORT OF STAGS
Standard
4.9.1 Stags MUST not be sent to slaughter after 14 February or before 14 July.
4.9.2. Only stags under 2 years of age can be transported to DSPs during the roar.
It has been agreed that there will be a phase implementation of this date change to 14 February in that:
- For the 2026 season, stags can be “moved to slaughter up to and including 21 February 2026”.
- For 2027 stags must not be moved to slaughter after 14 February.
This standard was agreed after considerable discussion regarding farmer and driver health and safety, as well as stag welfare.
Please note that these standards do not apply to trophy stags which have their own transport QA standards.
