The Animal Health and Welfare Review offers farmers in England a free annual vet visit to check the health and welfare of their livestock.
From today, livestock farmers can now apply for funding for both the Animal Health and Welfare Review and the endemic disease follow-up for more than one species.
In this post, we’ll give an overview and details of a webinar for you to learn more.
Background
During a review, a vet of your choice will conduct disease testing for conditions including Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in cattle, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in pigs, and worming resistance in sheep.
They will also assess biosecurity measures, identify potential risks and offer tailored advice to improve the health, welfare and productivity of your animals.
The endemic disease follow-up is the second stage of the review. Further assessments will be carried out by the vet, based on the findings of the initial review.
They will focus on:
- sampling and testing: checking for specific diseases or conditions.
- biosecurity assessment: identifying risks and recommending improvements.
- health and welfare advice: providing tailored guidance to enhance animal health, welfare, and productivity
The review and the follow-up are part of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, aimed at supporting farmers in improving livestock health while enhancing sustainability and productivity.
Previously, farmers could only claim for a review and follow-up for a single herd or flock of either beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs or sheep.
The review has now been expanded, allowing keepers to include more than one species in their review and follow-up.
The follow-ups will still be optional.
Follow-ups must be on the same species as the review and must follow a review. Up to 3 reviews and 3 follow-ups are available per species.
You can apply for:
- £684 for a pig review
- £436 for a sheep review
- £522 for a beef cattle review
- £372 for a dairy cattle review
In addition to this, for the follow-up, we offer:
- £215 for cattle with no BVD
- £837 for beef cattle where BVD is present in the herd
- £1,714 for dairy cattle where BVD is present in the herd
- £639 for sheep
- £923 for pigs
To apply for an Animal Health and Welfare Review, you’ll need:
- a single business identifier (SBI) linked to a county parish holding number (CPH) registered in England
And:
- 11 or more cattle (beef or dairy)
- 21 or more sheep
- 51 or more pigs
If you’ve applied for a vet visit since 19 June 2024 – for your cows, for example – you don’t need to register and apply again, you’ll already be in the system.
If your agreement starts with ‘IAHW’, we will update it to include these changes automatically. You can read the updated terms and conditions on GOV.UK.
If your agreement starts with ‘AHWR’ then you need to apply for a new agreement.
Once you read the changes, you can start arranging reviews or follow-ups for your other species.
Coming this year
This spring, we will launch one round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF). You’ll be able to apply for animal health and welfare grants between £1,000 and £25,000.
In summer, we will expand the Animal Health and Welfare Review to allow funding for multiple flocks of the same species, providing greater flexibility and support to farmers managing several groups of animals.
In autumn, we will launch a consultation on the introduction of mandatory vet visits as part of the review process.
Subscribe to the Farming blog for the latest updates.
Join our webinar
Join us for a webinar on Wednesday, 12 March, where we'll provide an overview of the 'Get Funding to Improve Animal Health and Welfare' service and the expansion to multiple species.
The webinar will start at 1pm and finish at 2pm.
We’ll talk through the Annual Health and Welfare Review, the endemic disease follow-up and the new optional PI (Persistently Infected) hunt.
There will be an opportunity for you to put questions to the team.
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