A few important updates from the practice this month, particularly around Bluetongue, vaccination and animal health funding.

Bluetongue – what we’re seeing on the ground and vaccine update

Of course it was only a matter of time, but it is still sad to say we've now confirmed the first case of Bluetongue on one of our client’s farms. Worth saying, we've also had a suspect case test negative, though are awaiting results from a number of other holdings. APHA Pirbright is the only lab in the country allowed to run the bloods and as you can imagine there is currently a fair old backlog which means turnaround has stretched to about two weeks. I’d be fairly confident in predicting that the single triangle on the map West of Truro is not likely to remain lonely for long.

The pattern for us so far has predominantly been lameness as the major cause for concern in cattle. Suspicious dairy cows have also presented with milk drop and high temperatures. My advice if you spot any suspect individuals or groups is exactly the same as before:

Ring APHA as soon as you see it on 03000 200 301. It's a notifiable disease so you need to report it directly to them. If they can't rule it out over the phone, they'll give us an authorisation code which covers the cost of the lab fees.

Early sampling helps everyone get a clearer picture of what's circulating locally. A fairly shrewd observation that was made to me on farm this week “If it isn’t Bluetongue we need to know so that we can find out what is going on.” There is a lot of it around but symptoms are vague and it could just as easily be something else that you want to get on top of sooner rather than later.

The good news is that we've now managed to source vaccine for every registered farm that asked us for it. In the end, a mix of UK product alongside Irish and Spanish branded versions. It's taken a fair bit of organising behind the scenes, but we're really pleased to have got the doses out the door and into animals.

For smaller holdings, 40 or 50 dose vials don't make sense, so we ran a split bottle day where we drew up individual doses for all our smaller farms to keep wastage and cost down. Credit where its due to local vet student Patrick, who put in a big shift to get all of these ready for you.

Animal Health and Welfare Review — claim the funding while you can.

A reminder that Animal Health and Welfare Review funding is still running, covering a fully funded vet visit for dairy, beef, and sheep farms provided you have at least 11 cattle or 21 sheep. We will have a chat with you before to decide what the subject of the visit should be and ensure you get value from it. This month I visited a dairy unit where we spent the visit going through coccidiosis management. Cattle visits also cover the cost of BVD testing, which is mandatory for anyone who is Red Tractor farm assured and highly recommended for everyone else. Often, there is money left over to reflect your own time on the day as well.

Current rates: dairy £447, beef £647 and sheep £574 for the initial review and there is follow up funding which we can discuss in more detail at the visit. All indications are that the scheme will close in June 2027 so it is worth getting applications in sooner rather than later.

It takes about 5 minutes to apply, but you'll need your Rural Payments CRN and password to hand.

https://www.gov.uk/.../farmers-how-to-apply-for-funding...

As suspected last month, parasites have been unpredictable to say the least. We’re seeing some very high faecal egg counts on mob samples as well as some clinically unwell animals.

Give us a call if you want to discuss any of the above or contact me directly zack@towanvets.co.uk

All the best

Zack