Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Farmers urged to take lateral flow test before visiting livestock marts

IAAS is asking farmers to take a lateral flow test before attending livestock marts.

Farmers and crofters are being urged to take a lateral flow test before visiting a livestock mart.

The recommendation from marts trade body, the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS), comes in response to rising cases of coronavirus.

As well as urging farmers to take a lateral flow test prior to attending mart, IAAS is asking producers to adhere to social distancing measures which are being reintroduced in livestock markets.

The organisation says marts will also reintroduce a ban on under 16s attending sales, and only those wishing to conduct business are permitted to enter the live sales ring.

“As the Omicron Covid-19 variant takes hold and the number of cases is increasing rapidly, Scottish livestock auction markets have updated their guidance for customers attending markets in line with changes in legislation and advice received from Scottish Government,” said IAAS executive director, Neil Wilson.

“The main addition to the current guidance is the reintroduction of physical distancing throughout market premises.”

IAAS executive director Neil Wilson.

He said the measures were being taken to keep people safe and protect the livestock trade.

“IAAS expects to see an increase in inspections from local authorities and police to enforce these updated measures and we also expect market staff to take a strong stance with anyone not complying,” added Mr Wilson.

Other IAAS guidance includes a requirement for farmers to pre-notify the market if they are planning to attend, as well as a plea for vendors to adopt the “drop and go” policy previously introduced during the pandemic.

In addition, IAAS says all mart attendees must wear a face covering, unless exempt, and they must use hand washing or sanitising facilities on entry to market.

The IAAS guidance also asks farmers to be “respectful to all market staff during these challenging times”.

It adds: “They [staff] have been asked to follow the guidelines and the law to make sure everyone stays as safe as possible and to reduce the spread of the virus.”

Farmers told to heed Covid rules when visiting livestock auction marts