Farm health planning
Foot and Mouth Disease, Bluetongue and Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) SituationsBeing proactive about health planning, and being aware of the normal health status of your animals, can help in being vigilant for early signs of disease so that prompt action can be taken. Further information on the latest situation regarding Foot and Mouth, Bluetongue and Avian influenza is available. |
What is Farm Health Planning?
Farm Health Planning benefits you by helping to prevent disease and improve the performance of your livestock. It's about working closely with your vet or other adviser on setting targets for your animals' health and welfare and taking steps to measure, manage and monitor productivity.
| Cattle initiative - Defra is funding 27 projects in the beef and dairy sectors which aim to show the benefits of Farm Health Planning. |
Latest news
29 November - North of England group herd health initiative meeting. Further information...
16 November 2007 - Uncovering problems with health planning leads to a boost in lamb numbers. Further information is available on the Farmers’ Guardian website.
31 October 2007 - Jeff Rooker presented the Farm Health Planning sponsored Sheep Farmer of the Year award at the Farmers Weekly Awards ceremony. Further information is available on the Farmers Weekly website.
26 October 2007 - The Farmers' Guardian have published an animal health supplement featuring case studies on farm health planning.
25 October 2007 - An agriculture student from Myerscough College wins first prize of £500 and £500 for the college in the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF)/FHP Student Essay Competition. Three cash prizes of £50 were presented to three runners up. The competition was open to students of agriculture colleges in England and entrants had to write a 1500 word essay which demonstrated their understanding of Farm Health Planning on dairy and beef units. The judging panel was from the FHP Cattle Group and included a vet and a farmer. The judges commented 'Each of the finalists showed a good understanding of the issues for consideration and were not short of ideas for improving the uptake of proactive Farm Health Planning. Further information...
24 October 2007 - Calf rearers in East Cornwall are always on the look out for signs of illness as experience has shown that treating off colour calves as soon as possible keeps drug usage down and recurrences of diseases like calf pneumonia can be prevented if treatment is effective in the first place. Calves that have problems feeding are carefully monitored as loss of appetite can be an indicator of health problems. Further information...
15 October 2007 - The British Pig Association is holding workshops for small scale pig producers which will focus on how farm health planning can help to keep pigs healthy and free from disease. Healthy pigs are happy pigs! If you are interested in attending one of these workshops or would like further information please visit the British Pig Association website.
Sponsoring the Sheep Farmer of the Year Award is all about encouraging sheep farmers who put planning into practice. There's only one award but the Farm Health Planning team congratulate all the finalists for their efforts and achievements. Jeff Rooker will present the award to the winner at the glittering Farmers Weekly Awards ceremony on 31 October at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. For further information including details of finalists please visit the Farmers Weekly Awards website.
9 October 2007 - The English Sheep Farm Health Planning initiative launches its latest publication 'Protect Your Flock and Your Profits' 
(434 KB - Link to the National Sheep Association website) which highlights the potential disease risks associated with bringing in new sheep and advises on approaches to take to reduce the risks and adopting isolation and quarantine principles that can be fitted onto most sheep farms.
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Page last modified:
December 13, 2007
Page published: 17 May 2007