Latest updates from Ruminant Health & Welfare

Welcome to RH&W’s latest newsletter

With spring calving and lambing underway, it is great that the weather has dried up for most of us across the UK. It is always such a welcome sight to see cattle and sheep turned out with youngstock at foot.

March is, however, a month of transition and challenge and at RH&W it has been a busy time as the industry navigates a range of seasonal pressures. This includes continued bluetongue vigilance, increasing worm and parasite risk, and the importance of managing rumen health and nutrition as animals move through key changes in diet and management.

One of our recent Steering Group meetings provided some invaluable contributions and reflections on how we can help support the improvement of animal welfare. With lamb tail docking and castration being a much discussed topic, we were joined by Dave Robertson of Veterinary Centre Oamaru, New Zealand (NZ), who gave insights into NZ’s two-year survey of pain mitigation strategies during tail docking and castration of lambs.

From a UK perspective, Claire White of the Welfare sub-group gave us a presentation on the ongoing DEFRA consultation and brought in the broader context of the UK’s animal welfare strategy. It was noted the UK would benefit from more data, particularly around toxicity, liveweight impact, residues and practical on-farm application. The conversation also underlined the importance of farmer training, veterinary oversight and continued collaboration if progress is to be made.

Mr Robertson also said pain mitigation during lamb tail docking was being driven largely by industry standards and market requirements, rather than regulation alone. The group heard that certification expectations, particularly in the wool sector, are playing a major role in encouraging the use of pain relief, with vets central to product selection, prescription and compliance.

It was valuable to reflect on how NZ compares with our own position, particularly in terms of product availability, regulatory barriers and practical delivery on farm. The discussion highlighted that while some of the same pain mitigation tools are known here, there are challenges around licensing, access and ease of use in UK.

In addition, the group has submitted a response to the consultation reflecting industry concerns around the lack of suitable pain relief tools, reliance on the cascade and the need for co-designed policy, while also suggesting a joint roadmap to address evidence gaps, equipment and medicine shortages and training needs.

Lastly, Lorna Gow introduced AHDB’s Farm Data Exchange proof of concept, which aims to give farmers greater control over how their data is securely and transparently shared in response to growing administrative and supply chain demands.

Behind the scenes we are pleased to say that the launch of the RH&W brand new Beef Strategy, plus reviews of progress of our Sheep Strategy and Dairy Cow Lameness Manifesto are being worked on. We look forward to sharing this work in the coming months.

Thank you to everyone who has given up their time to share insights in our Steering Group meetings or is involved with sub-group or working groups.

Gwyn Jones, RH&W Chair