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Following the launch of Defra’s Annual Health and Welfare Review last week, Katie Fallon looks at how farmers can get involved.

Red Tractor and Defra have sought to allay farmers’ concerns that the vet review, which is part of the new Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, is not a duplicate of the current annual health and performance review required within the Red Tractor standards.

As environmental pressures increase and input costs continue to rise, the importance of soil health and the concept of regenerating soils, is a topic of conversation more and more farmers are becoming a part of.

With lambing time on the horizon, vets offer a reminder of best practice with a focus on low antibiotic use, colostrum quality and ewe nutrition.

Mineral supplementation can be key to achieving optimum animal health and productivity. But what are the main minerals livestock farmers should be focusing on to avoid a shortfall? 

With livestock attacks once again in the news, it is important for farmers to know where they stand legally and the measures which they can take to protect their flocks.

Advice on how to prevent naval ill pre- and post-calving was offered by vet Ben Strugnell in a recent AHDB webinar.

Through hard work, positivity, and a can-do attitude, new entrants Stuart and Chloe Graham, made their dream a reality when they secured a ten-year tenancy on one of Scotland’s Crown Estate farms.

A change in mindset, a passion for agriculture and a willingness to work with nature allows one Cumbrian farmer to make major system changes and add value to the farm business.

A new test is in the final stages of development to identify calf immunity levels, in the hope of reducing antibiotic use within the calf rearing system.