A practical, non-judgemental approach to improving your medicines usage

A practical, non-judgmental approach to improving your medicines usage

Following new Red Tractor rules on responsible use of medicines, and ongoing industrywide e orts to reduce unnecessary use, we spoke to Norbrook territory manager and farmer’s son Paul Uglow, about a course that o ers practical, non-judgemental learning.

Under new Red Tractor rules which came into force in November, at least one person on farm is now required to take a course in responsible use of medicines. But all farms, whether they are Red Tractor or not, can improve on farm e ciency and pro tability by using medicines more responsibly.

Norbrook began running its Responsible Use of Medicines course in 2019 and Mr Uglow, who wrote the course with two Norbrook vets, says the key aim was “not to teach farmers to suck eggs”, noting that “95% of farmers in the UK are very good at what they do”. It’s important to course leaders that they don’t “preach” and instead take a common-sense approach in conjunction with vet practices, using real-life examples.

Mr Uglow delivered 40 face-to-face meetings up until the rst Covid-19 lockdown, and over 20 online meetings since then, attended by more than 2,500 farmers – from both Red Tractor and non-Red Tractor farms. The course has had good feedback, with the majority of farmers reporting that it had highlighted things they didn’t know or had forgotten.

Not just cost saving

Courses such as these are important, whether you’re a Red Tractor farmer or not, Mr Uglow says, as a large proportion of antibiotic milk failures are human error. In addition, reducing medicines usage is not just about the physical saving on the cost of the drugs – it’s time too.

“Some of this is not so much about the actual physical saving from not having to inject 200 calves, because we’re only going to inject the 20 that are actually sick. It’s the time, and to me that is a massive thing.

“Do you really need to worm all your cattle or sheep? ‘No’ is the answer nine out of 10 times. If you don’t, it’s not just the cost of the wormer you save, it’s the 2–3 hours you haven’t had to spend catching all your cows or sheep. To me those are the types of things that a responsible use of medicines course can introduce. […] If you’re not Red Tractor, at the end of the day you still want to be as pro table and e cient as you can be.”

When it comes to responsible use of antibiotics, the UK has done a “fantastic job”, Mr Uglow says, with the UK now the fth lowest country in Europe for antibiotic usage (ESVAC report, p.24). But there is still work to be done, and additionally there is room for farmers to become more e cient and save money on anthelmintic usage such as wormers and ukicides.

What does the course involve?

Courses are available nationwide, both in person and on Zoom and last around 1.5 hours. They are delivered by three technical vets and Norbrook territory managers, including Mr Uglow. They are very informal and structured into the di erent sections of Red Tractor – covering everything from how to make decisions about medicines purchases and storage, to understanding the datasheet, any contraindications and necessary PPE.

Storage is key, including how and where to store medicines and at what temperature. This includes having a secure, dedicated fridge for medicines, but also avoiding the common pitfall of using the old kitchen fridge for medicines. Mr Uglow says: “In the kitchen fridge you’re potentially storing £50 worth of food, whereas you may have thousands of pounds worth of vaccines in an old fridge that came out of the kitchen because it didn’t work properly. These are expensive products, so it’s worth the investment in a small fridge just for that use.”

The in-person course includes two interactive aspects. A vet is dressed up in PPE using a live example from the back of a wormer box to demonstrate the basic level of PPE required. Also, there is a withdrawal period demonstration using coloured sand or water to show how easy it is to fall foul of maximum residue limits, which is an area Mr Uglow says the industry needs to improve upon.

Online events, meanwhile, can be particularly beneficial in the busy winter months when farmers can join the meeting at the push of a button.

The course continually refers back to conversations with your farm’s local vet, and Mr Uglow is a “passionate believer” that improvements can be made in interactions between farmers and vets, especially in the beef and sheep sector, which he grew up in. As well as completing a course such as Norbrook’s, sitting down with your vet and putting together a health plan or a parasite plan is essential, he says.

Some farmers may be embarrassed to be honest about problems on farm, or may not record the data, but it is essential to be open with your vet. “There’s no point making up numbers or being dishonest about lambing losses etc. At the end of day, the only person not bene tting is you. You have to be brutally honest with yourself or you won’t get better or more e cient.”

Being honest, non-critical and nonjudgemental is critical to Norbrook’s approach for the course. “We’re not judging, we’re not Red Tractor, this is not Norbrook trying to be Red Tractor, and not Norbrook saying you’re doing all these things wrong. This is Norbrook coming to you and saying this is how to do things in an ideal world, this is the process you should follow – sometimes it’s just little refreshers here and there,” Mr

Uglow explains.

In person meetings can be carried out on farms, at vet practices or other venues and Mr Uglow says they like to support local places for the events, including farms or farm shops.

If you’d like to nd out more about the course, ask your local vet or contact Norbrook directly to be referred to a local provider. FG