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Thai livestock

Registering a Thai beef farm, then moving up to GFM and GAP

Register with Thailand's DLD at no fee, add GFM biosecurity, then certify under GAP (TAS 6400-2555). What each step checks, with checklists.

Intermediate10 min read

On this page
  1. Step 0: why bother?
  2. Step 1: register as a livestock farmer with DLD
  3. Step 2: GFM, the middle step
  4. Step 3: GAP for beef cattle farms (TAS 6400-2555)
  5. A worked example: Chainat
  6. Checklist: what to have ready before an inspector visits
  7. Where to ask

Ask a livestock officer about a government programme, a disease-control visit or a buyer who wants "certified" beef, and the conversation usually comes back to two questions: is the farm registered? and what standard does it hold?

It helps to see these as a ladder with three steps. The first step has no fee. The second costs less than the third and gets you ready for it. The third is the national standard for beef farms. You don't have to climb all three at once, and you don't need to pay for the top step before the bottom one is solid.

This post walks through each step as a checklist. Everything here comes from documents by the Department of Livestock Development (กรมปศุสัตว์, DLD) and the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (มกอช., ACFS), linked as we go. Rules change, so always confirm the current details at your district livestock office (สำนักงานปศุสัตว์อำเภอ).

One step at a time: register first, then GFM, then GAP.

Step 0: why bother?

It's fair to ask what a farm gets from all this paperwork. Here is what the official documents actually say, no more:

  • Help after disasters and outbreaks. DLD's citizen guide to registration says registered livestock farmers receive compensation or help from the state when floods, drought or animal disease outbreaks hit them (DLD citizen manual).
  • Disease surveillance. DLD uses the register to watch for and prevent epidemics (same manual).
  • Planning that reaches your farm. DLD's 2569 registration criteria say the data is linked to the Ministry of Agriculture's central farmer registry (Farmer One) and used to plan things like feed reserves, vaccine production, disaster relief, disease control and farmer support (DLD 2569 criteria).
  • A route to market trust. At a 2567 training in Chainat, officials explained that farms meeting the beef GAP criteria can apply for certification through their local livestock office, and that farmers wanted it to improve marketing and consumer confidence (Thairath, 2 Feb 2567).
Two Brahman-type cattle walking along a road beside rice fields in Kanchanaburi
Photo: Mosmas, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Step 1: register as a livestock farmer with DLD

This is the bottom step, and it costs nothing. DLD lists no fee for registration (DLD citizen manual).

Who can register

According to the DLD citizen manual:

  • a Thai national aged 18 or over;
  • a company registered in Thailand;
  • a government office, temple, school or educational institution in Thailand;
  • for farmers raising beef cattle, dairy cattle, buffalo, pigs, chickens, ducks, goats or sheep.

Three ways to do it

  1. In person at the district livestock office where the animals are kept, in office hours or at a meeting point the office sets.
  2. On the web, through DLD's registration system at eregist.dld.go.th, to update your own farmer and livestock data.
  3. On your phone, with the DLD e-Regist app (DLD citizen manual). Its App Store listing describes it as an app for registering, recording and updating data on farmers, farms, animal raising and the number of animals of each type, for farmers and officials.

What to bring

The manual lists: your national ID card (or the farm manager's, or the company's papers), a company certificate if you are a company, a power of attorney if someone applies for you, a farm standard certificate if you have one, and photos of your animals (DLD citizen manual). The 2569 criteria put it simply: for a new registration, bring just your ID card (DLD 2569 criteria).

What happens next

Officers check your documents, then check the animals and the farm location in the field, and the district livestock officer approves the registration in the system. The manual gives the whole process as 40 working days in total. Once approved, you count as a DLD-registered livestock farmer from the day you applied (DLD citizen manual).

Don't let it lapse. Registered farmers must update their livestock data at least once a year. If you move the animals to a new place, cancel the old site and register the new one. The 2569 criteria list "not updating for more than one year" as one way a registration ends (DLD 2569 criteria); DLD's citizen manual still gives more than three years (DLD citizen manual). Treat "once a year" as the rule.

A good habit: update the head count whenever calves are born, animals are sold or the herd changes a lot, not only once a year.

Step 2: GFM, the middle step

GFM stands for Good Farming Management. In Thai, DLD describes it as a farm with an appropriate disease-prevention and animal-raising system (ระบบการป้องกันโรคและการเลี้ยงสัตว์ที่เหมาะสม) (Naewna, 16 Aug 2565).

When DLD promoted GFM to small pig farms in 2565, it called GFM a biosecurity system for the farm that small farmers can manage, with lower costs than the GAP farm standard, and a way to prepare for upgrading to GAP later (Thairath, 20 Jan 2565). The certification areas listed then were: area and structure, housing and equipment, vehicles, people, animal health, feed and medicine, records, and environment.

GFM is not only for pigs. In August 2565, describing how DLD controls foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, DLD's director-general named GAP and GFM certification among the ways to keep disease out of farms by bringing livestock raising up to standard (Naewna, 16 Aug 2565). In Chainat, officials said in 2567 that some beef farmers there already held GFM certification from DLD, while many others did not yet hold it (Thairath, 2 Feb 2567).

GFM model farms also appear in development projects. A project document on raising beef farmers in the Thung Kula Ronghai area, published on NSTDA's AGRITEC site, sets a target of five GFM model beef farms (one in Surin) and lists GFM farm management, a microbial starter to reduce farm odour, and biogas from cattle manure among its farm activities (NSTDA AGRITEC project sheet).

DLD's Bureau of Disease Control, Prevention and Treatment runs a GFM information page, which lists a new DLD regulation on applying for and issuing GFM certificates dated 2569 (DLD GFM page). The species-specific details sit in its linked files, so ask your district office which version and checklist apply to beef cattle today.

Why take this step before GAP

GFM covers many of the same areas GAP checks later (vehicles and people coming in, animal health, feed and medicine, records), at a smaller scale. If you can pass GFM, much of the GAP checklist will already feel familiar.

Step 3: GAP for beef cattle farms (TAS 6400-2555)

The top step is the Thai Agricultural Standard มกษ. 6400-2555, Good Agricultural Practice for Beef Cattle Farm (TAS 6400-2012), issued by ACFS under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. It was published in the Royal Gazette, general announcements, vol. 130, special part 14 ง, on 30 January 2556. It replaced the first version, มกษ. 6400-2548, from 8 February 2548 (TAS 6400-2555 full text).

ACFS writes the standard. DLD certifies farms against it: farmers apply at the provincial or district livestock office, a DLD audit team inspects the farm, and the regional livestock office issues the certificate (DLD GAP audit manual).

A white Brahman cow behind a barbed-wire fence on a dry pasture in Tak province
Photo: PumpkinSky, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The eight areas the standard covers

In my own words, here is what the standard looks at:

Area What the inspector looks for (summary)
1. Farm components A site with clean water all year and low contamination risk, a clear layout, shade and rest space, fences, durable easy-to-clean housing, feed and water troughs, races for moving cattle, and a cattle crush for vaccination, deworming and AI
2. Feed Enough good roughage and concentrate; concentrate from licensed makers; no banned substances in home-mixed feed; a separate, clean feed store
3. Water A safe source and enough water for every animal
4. Farm management A farm manual, trained staff, a licensed farm veterinarian overseeing herd health, yearly health checks for workers, clean housing and proper manure handling
5. Animal health Known origin and quarantine for bought-in cattle, disinfection for vehicles and people, an entry/exit log, a vaccination programme including FMD, parasite control, yearly checks for brucellosis and TB, and following the animal disease law in an outbreak
6. Animal welfare Cattle kept comfortable; sick or injured animals not left to suffer
7. Environment Carcasses handled as the farm vet decides (if buried, at least 50 cm deep where floods don't reach), wastewater treated before it goes into public water, covered waste bins, manure used for fertiliser or biogas
8. Records Farm and production records, including each animal's ID number, kept for at least 3 years

How the audit is scored

Each requirement has a level: major (must do; affects meat safety or is required by law), minor (should do) or recommendation. To pass, a farm must meet all major and all minor requirements. If minor items fail at the first audit, the farm can fix them, or submit a correction plan and finish it within the set time (TAS 6400-2555).

After you are certified

DLD's audit manual, written under its 2558 regulation, says applicants first attend DLD's GAP training course, certified farms are re-checked at least once a year, and a certificate lasts 3 years before renewal. It also says DLD gives this certification to farms that apply voluntarily (DLD GAP audit manual). Check whether a newer regulation has changed these details.

A worked example: Chainat

Chainat shows the ladder in real life. In February 2567, ACFS, DLD and the Chainat provincial livestock office ran a training under the project to develop and upgrade beef farms toward high-value agriculture. The province had 3,557 beef farmers and 58,088 cattle, and officials explained the standard's eight areas (Thairath, 2 Feb 2567).

In September 2567, ACFS described the "Chainat Model", run with the Chainat provincial livestock office: helping more than 100 farming families raise beef cattle through training, access to funding, local inputs, better product standards and market channels. ACFS said the project aims to help farmers understand the beef GAP criteria, adjust how they raise cattle, and be ready to apply for certification (ACFS release on ThaiPR, 27 Sep 2567).

My takeaway: in Chainat, the standard was taught step by step through training and a provincial project, rather than left for each farm to work out alone.

Checklist: what to have ready before an inspector visits

Records are the part of GAP you can start today, with a notebook.
A phone screen showing one animal's record with its ID, breed, age, latest weight and recent health notes
Image: Farmeral Technology

Use this as a starting list. The official checklist from your livestock office is the one that counts.

Step 1: registration

  • National ID card (or company papers, or a power of attorney)
  • Photos of the animals
  • Head count by type, up to date
  • A reminder to update the register at least once a year

Step 2: GFM

  • Ask the district office for the current GFM checklist for beef cattle
  • Clear areas for cattle, feed and equipment
  • Disinfection point for people and vehicles
  • Vaccination and deworming records
  • Simple feed and medicine records

Step 3: GAP (TAS 6400-2555)

  • DLD GAP training certificate
  • Farm layout plan and a written farm manual
  • Cattle crush, races, shade, water and feed troughs in working order
  • Name of the licensed farm veterinarian
  • Workers' yearly health certificates
  • Animal ID numbers and production records for every animal
  • Entry and exit log for people and vehicles
  • Source and quarantine records for bought-in cattle
  • Vaccination (including FMD), parasite control and yearly brucellosis/TB test records
  • Feed receipts from licensed sources
  • A plan for manure, wastewater, waste and carcasses
  • Records filed and kept for at least 3 years

Where to ask

Start at your district livestock office (สำนักงานปศุสัตว์อำเภอ): it handles registration, and it is where GAP applications can be lodged, together with the provincial office (DLD citizen manual, DLD GAP audit manual). Ask them three things: is my registration current, which GFM checklist applies to my cattle, and when is the next GAP training?

One step at a time is fine. A registered farm that keeps good records has a solid first step, and a head start on the records GAP asks for.

Sources

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