Livestock Information (LI) are delighted to have launched the latest update to the Livestock Information Service (LIS), which incorporates a new County Parish Holding (CPH) validation functionality for all users. The work illustrates the collaboration with the Defra group, including the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), to improve livestock traceability and build resilience for the UK Food & Farming sector.  

Animal location is a fundamental part of traceability and disease control, and this development allows users to avoid errors requiring manual correction by validating holding numbers before submitting sheep movements.  

Key Features: 

CPH Number Verification: Checks the format and validity of a CPH number against the LIS database. 

Real-time Validation: Instantly verifies CPH numbers, reducing errors before submission. 

Security & Compliance: Ensures compliance with agricultural and livestock movement regulations while maintaining data privacy and security. 

For livestock keepers who report their movements directly via LIS, the CPH validator is now live. For farmers who prefer to report their sheep, goat or deer movements via paper documents, they may be contacted if the CPH details are flagged as invalid when at the point of processing the data entry into LIS.  

One of the primary sources of movement reporting in England is from livestock markets using market software, which in most cases integrate with LIS. Livestock markets in collaboration with the Livestock Auctioneers Association (LAA), were consulted during the functionality development, with two markets being used in a pilot study before full rollout. All livestock markets in England will receive further communication and support via the RPA and LAA.   

The new CPH validation functionality won’t automatically appear on software used by different users, the software provider will need to update their own system to the new Application Programming Interface (API), now available on the LIS Developer Hub. 

Speaking of the latest development, Ian Hewett, Managing Director for Livestock Information Ltd said: “The CPH validation work is an important enhancement to LIS, improving traceability and operational efficiency. A similar functionality will also be effective for cattle following the rollout of the multispecies platform at a later date.”