GovWire

The annual health and welfare review is part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer in 2022.

We began testing the first annual health and welfare reviews in September 2022. Were steadily increasing the number of reviews by invitation, before we open the review to all eligible farmers in early February 2023. We will continue to make improvements and iterations over time, using feedback from farmers and industry experts.

Livestock keepers can get funding for a vet or team chosen by a vet to visit their farm and carry out a health and welfare review of eligible livestock.?This funding will be available for three years, after which we will review the situation.

The review sits alongside the environmental land management standards. You do not need to have an SFI standards agreement to be eligible to apply for the annual health and welfare review.

This review is designed to:

• reduce endemic diseases such as bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) in cattle, porcine reproductive and respiratory disease (PRRS) in pigs and the effectiveness of worming treatments in sheep
• improve the welfare of your animals
• increase productivity
• ensure your use of veterinary medicines and vaccines is appropriate
• be primarily for the farmer, and not used for inspections or compliance

Your eligibility?to apply for this funding

To be eligible to apply you must have one of the following:

• 11 or more beef cattle
• 11 or more dairy cattle
• 21 or more sheep
• 51 or more pigs

The livestock must be registered in England and you must be responsible for their welfare.

Your business must have:

• a single business identifier (SBI) linked to a county parish holding (CPH) number registered in England
• the CPH number can be permanent or temporary

You can only apply for a review on a CPH registered in England. You cannot apply for a review on CPHs registered in Wales or Scotland.

The CPH number cannot be:

• an 8000 number used for abattoirs, pet food manufacturers, racing pigeon establishments and showgrounds
• a 9000 number used for poultry keepers

Were initially opening to farmers who are either eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) or anticipating making a BPS claim in 2023.

To be eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) the SBI must have at least 5 hectares of BPS eligible land and 5 or more BPS entitlements on 16 May 2022.

The service will open more widely as soon as possible.

To start with youll only be able to have a review of one eligible type of livestock. If you have more than one eligible type, youll need to choose which one to have reviewed.

In the future, if you have more than one species of eligible livestock, or if theyre kept at different geographical locations, you may be eligible for more than one annual review.

More information about how this will work will be published on GOV.UK before applications open.

How much funding you can apply for

There is a payment for each species. It is not a payment for each animal.

This payment will help you cover the costs for:

• the vet
• testing for endemic diseases and conditions
• your time

The payment for each species is different. This is because the required testing for some species may take longer to do, and some results cost more to analyse.

Youll be paid:

• 684 for a pig review
• 436 for a sheep review
• 522 for a beef cattle review
• 372 for a dairy cattle review

What the review will include

The review is flexible. You and the vet can decide what the health and welfare priorities are for the farm and focus on these.

Theres no set amount of time for a review but its likely to take between 2 to 3 hours of your time and the vets time.

Time will also be needed to carry out the required testing. As part of the review, the vet will discuss the test results with you and recommend actions you can take to improve health and welfare based on testing and their time on the farm.

The review requires:

• testing to specified standards for a priority endemic disease or condition, depending on species including bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) in cattle, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) in pigs or to test the effectiveness of worming treatments in sheep
• the vet advising on the health and welfare of the livestock including issues such as lameness, body conditioning or mobility scoring
• a written report prepared by the vet with agreed recommendations and actions to improve the livestocks health and welfare
• you sharing some information with us that is relevant to the health and welfare of your livestock, including test results

Optional areas may include:

• a check of your biosecurity measures and advice on improving them
• recommendations about medicines used on your farm including antibiotics and vaccinations

What happens after the review

Once the vet has completed the review, theyll provide you with a report that includes:

• endemic disease or condition test results from the laboratory
• advice or suggested species-specific health and welfare actions
• other review findings - for example, biosecurity recommendations and medicine usage
• the agreed priority recommendations and actions for you to improve the health and welfare of your livestock

The report will not be shared with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or used for any regulatory or site visit purposes.

When you claim your funding you may be required to provide the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) with some evidence that the review has taken place. Youll only need to supply this evidence if the RPA asks for it.

Early next year, well publish more information on GOV.UK about when applications will open to eligible keepers and how to apply.