Livestock
Editor Q&A
Subsidy opportunity for 2022
With BPS payments ending in 2027, alongside current extremely high costs and uncertainty, in this month’s Q&A Sarah Kidby provides an update on potential opportunities available from the Animal Health & Welfare Pathway, due for launch later this year.
Q
What is the pathway and who is eligible? A: Part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway in England is set to offer subsidies to enhance livestock health and welfare. It is made up of four parts, the first of which was due for launch in spring 2022 but is now expected to open to cattle, sheep and pig farmers in autumn. Farmers will be able to take part in any or all of the four programmes, beginning with the fully-funded annual vet visit launching this year. Due for launch in 2023 are: Disease eradication and control – which will provide funding for veterinary advice and diagnostic testing, across a broad range of priority areas – and the animal health and welfare grants, which are capital investments in equipment, technology and infrastructure. This could include improvements to housing or staff training for example. Finally, the payments by results part of Pathway is in the planning phase and trials are expected
Q
to begin next year. The pathway will initially be open to farmers in England with more than 20 sheep, 10 cattle or 50 pigs, who are eligible for BPS.
What will the vet review involve? A: The review will cover the cost of a 2–3hour vet visit and a short report on agreed recommendations. For sheep farms it also includes lab testing for a Worm Treatment Check, which is a requirement of the scheme. The government will provide £436 per sheep flock, £522 for beef, £372 for dairy and £684 for pigs. Funds will be paid direct to the farmer, not the vet. For those farmers with mixed species farms, a review will be funded for each species. While the government’s disease priorities for the first year are worms in sheep, BVD for cattle and PRRS for pigs, the review will be tailored to the individual farm’s specific disease concerns and priorities. Speaking at a recent Elanco Access to Knowledge (A2K) event, Sheep Vet Society president Rebecca Mearns emphasised that the visit is not the same as health planning or a farm assurance visit. For those who do not have regular vet visits, it’s an opportunity to ‘try before you buy’, to see if veterinary input could improve your farm’s efficiency and profitability, she said. For those who do have a vet on farm annually or more, it’s an added bonus and a chance to discuss any additional concerns. There will be three parts to the visit: • Health and welfare • Biosecurity: Measures to reduce the introduction of disease to the flock, including purchasing decisions, quarantine and isolation, assessment of boundaries, cleaning and disinfection, vaccination where appropriate and testing/treating purchased or returning stock. Vets may be able to point towards grants to make improvements
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Medicines usage: The focus is on antibiotics, vaccination and the ‘Plan, Protect, Prevent’ approach. Commenting on Pathway, NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said the association is in favour of the approach, having long advocated closer relationships between vets and farmers to increase productivity and welfare, and reduce carbon footprint. “We expect Pathway to provide an opportunity for farmers to work with their own vet to address any health issues they may be facing specific to their farm. The initial health and welfare review should give an overall assessment of health and welfare on the farm as well as focus on whether internal parasite control is working or not. Our expectation is that Pathway will then go on to provide financial support for disease and parasite screening to raise health status and efficiency of the flock,” he said. While Pathway will not replace the BPS income stream, it will target limited funds to health and productivity gains, he added. Choosing a vet with a passion for the species and relevant training is important, Rebecca said. Vets will receive support on delivering successful review visits, and the Sheep Veterinary Society is offering its own series of workshops for sheep vets delivering Pathway. Speaking at the A2K event, sheep veterinary consultant Fiona Lovatt stressed the importance of having useful data to hand to get the most out of vet visits and to help inform decisions. Some basic data will be gathered by the visiting vet for Defra to inform the national disease picture, but this will be anonymised and is not used for regulatory purposes. Farmers will be able to apply online this year via the Rural Payments service. FG
Norbrook will be attending
2022
Come and talk to us about Milk Fever Control @NorbrookGB
19th-20th September 2022
Stand 22 & 27
5628-NBK-v1b-GB-08/07/22
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110 www.farmersguide.co.uk August 2022
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20/07/2022 12:47
