The Animal Health and Welfare Review offers farmers in England funded annual vet visits 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.
Watch our webinar
On Wednesday 12 March, we hosted a webinar covering the 'Get Funding to Improve Animal Health and Welfare' service and the expansion to multiple species. We also talked through the Animal Health and Welfare Review, the endemic disease follow-up and the new optional PI (Persistently Infected) hunt.
The session includes a Q&A section, with the team answering questions from attendees.
Watch the 'Get Funding to Improve Animal Health and Welfare' service webinar.
6 comments
Comment by Dr Charles Dalleywater posted on
Pity the scheme is not available for goats!
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Dr Charles,
Thank you for your feedback. I've shared it with the team. We worked closely with the industry to co-design the support available through the Pathway. That included focussing on spending public money where it would have the biggest positive impact. The result of this work showed that cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry were the species where this could be best achieved.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Tracey Crago posted on
We welcome the news that we are now able to apply for reviews of more than one species, in our case sheep and beef cattle.
We have been using Tag & Test on all our calves since 2020 as part of the BVD Free scheme and therefore, as I understand it, will be ineligible for the beef cattle review as it stands. Will the scheme be broadened so that we may benefit from alternative testing in future?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Tracey,
Thank you for your feedback and question. The review is open to all eligible farmers including you, as long as you have 11 or more cattle and your CPH number is registered in England. You need to have a BVD test that is either a blood test or bulk milk test (rather than solely tag & test), but the rest of the review will concentrate on improvements on your farm.
The review is flexible and between you and your vet. The review can then be followed by an endemic disease follow-up where you do a more in-depth disease testing based on your review results and a biosecurity assessment. The more in-depth testing is a PI hunt, which can be done using a tissue (button, or management) tag as long as all animals are tested at the same time. The vet will also advise you on further steps to control and prevent disease, improve animal health and welfare and improve animal productivity.
Hope that helps,
The Team
Comment by Tom B posted on
Is there any more info on another cattle housing grant for older animals, thank you.
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Tom,
Thanks for getting in touch. We are in the process of simplifying and rationalising our grant funding offer, ensuring that grants are targeted towards those who need them most and where they can deliver the most benefit for food security and nature. We will confirm the future of these grants in due course.
In spring, we will launch one round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund and through this, you’ll be able to apply for animal health and welfare grants between £1,000 and £25,000.
Subscribe to the blog and you'll be notified as soon as the FETF grants open for applications: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/subscribe/
Best wishes,
The Team