THE National Beef Association has advised its members that they can bury fallen cattle until the proposed national collection scheme is in operation - possibly from August 1.

The EU regulation forbidding on-farm burial became law on Thursday of last week, said the associaiton, but UK legislation was not expected to be in place until the beginning of June.

"This means burial in the UK is not yet illegal and, because the collection scheme is not expected to be in place until at least August, the authorities are prepared to allow farmers who cannot have carcases incinerated, or picked up by hunts or renderers, to continue to bury them as long as this is done sensibly and within current regulations," explained NBA chief executive, Robert Forster.

"Farmers who do not dispose of dead cattle, or dump them in public places, will continue to be prosecuted, but those who bury them properly will not."

The NBA hopes farmers made it clear to their regional governments by Tuesday's deadline that they wanted a national carcase collection service to be established.

"We cannot think of a better way out of the problem caused by the new EU regulation, because all that subscription payers faced with a dead animal will have to do is ring the national helpline and ask for it to be picked up," said Mr Forster.

"We know many of our members are worried that the proposed, modest, annual subscription levels of £50-£200 will rise. We have been advised that it could take up to two years to establish how well the current scheme can run because, the more farmers who join, the cheaper it will be.

"We have told the authorities that, if current subscription levels are maintained, positive farmer interest will continue but, if they rise, some will back out."