The state of wellbeing:
Herd health TIM GERAGHTY, VETERINARY CENTRE MANAGER, SRUC
What is it, why does it matter and how do you do it?
The Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBAD) are a collaborative
For almost 25 years I have been studying or working as a farm
measure something, you can manage it, and if you start
animal vet and like a lot of my colleagues, I have developed a
group of researchers that are working to try to answer this question. The reason they want to measure it is that once you managing a very big number even a small improvement can
strong interest in herd health.
deliver huge economic benefits.
It would be reasonable to say that at times I am almost entirely
In truth, perfect 100% herd health is an almost impossible goal,
pre-occupied with the concept.
and given that no farm is perfect, there is always work to do. If a
A herd is not just a group of animals, and health is not just the
to ‘perfect’ in current market conditions, it is not unreasonable
absence of disease. For me, herd health means that the animals that exist to support our food security should live in a
Scottish beef herd moved from ‘good average’ health outcomes to estimate that the immediate value gain would be in the region of £400 per cow, per year, compared to the current
continuous state of complete wellbeing.
£350 per cow gross margin, as reported in a recent SRUC study.
While I (reluctantly) accept that this is probably an
Gain can be measured in other ways too, such as time saved on
unattainable ideal, as a guiding principle it can be seriously useful. How big is the gap between where we are now and ‘perfect’ herd health, and what does this gap cost us?
farm (prevention is quicker than cure) or carbon, other resource or antibiotic reduction. The gains to be made in animal welfare or farmer mental health (from working with healthier stock in more profitable systems) are harder to quantify but could possibly yield even greater gain again.
Perspectives | Autumn 2023
