Advertiser content
How VetPartners is transforming veterinary services for farmers
Provided by
VetPartners is at the forefront of the farm industry evolution, enhancing the health of livestock and supporting farmers to be more productive, efficient and sustainable. We are committed to investing in our people, our practices and the latest technology and providing the very best advice to help UK agriculture grow.
Sharing knowledge and listening to the farming community is key to helping shape the future of the industry, which is why we are proud to support this survey.
Find out more at vetpartners.co.uk
Farm director Ian Cure © VetPartners In recent years, vets have increasingly supported farm clients to increase the productivity of livestock by optimising health and welfare.
However, with the plethora of legislation changes, launch of ELMs and volatile market forces, now is the time to take this a step further.
Farm director Ian Cure shares how VetPartners is supporting farmers in navigating some of the biggest industry changes in generations.
VetPartners is leading the way, investing in farm services to enable vets to provide independent consultancy services to their farm clients.
This is aided by the development of a data analysis tool which can be used for all farm species.
Data analysis tool
Rather than using various tools to access a variety of data, vets will be able to access and analyse data through one streamlined system.
Everything from mobility and rumen fill scores to growth rates and milk yields can be evaluated in one place.
Farm clients will also have access, allowing insight into how management is impacting animal health and productivity.
By having a mass of data at their fingertips, vets can support farmers with identifying the win-win interventions which will work for their farm.
Very often, a management change which improves animal health can also enhance productivity and have emissions reduction benefits too, and this can only be identified via effective use of data to identify what to change.
Sustainability
In addition to data services, we are running evidence-based sustainability training for all our vets, to enable our teams to support farmers with navigating all aspects of farm sustainability, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) within the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELM) and carbon foot printing tools.
Kingshay independent dairy specialists, part of the wider VetPartners group, are delivering this training to upskill vets in these crucial areas.
We understand that farmers overwhelmingly want to produce quality food, at a profit, while maintaining or improving the land they manage for future generations.
By ensuring our vets have a holistic understanding of the changes to subsidy payments, environmental legislation, and the latest sustainability tools, we are equipping them to provide consultancy services which take the whole farm business into account.
Veterinary training
VetPartners supports vets to develop their knowledge and areas of passion beyond straight clinical training.
Claire Whittle is one of two VetPartners vets currently completing a Nuffield Farming Scholarship looking into regenerative agriculture and how it can work in conjunction with supporting livestock health and farm productivity.
“I’ve realised that vets can be the right people to support farmers who are adopting regenerative grazing techniques as we can offer a whole-farm and livestock view on the natural interactions and where improvement can complement across the board.
“For example, we can look at data from faecal egg counts to assess worm burden, to help inform decisions around integrated parasite management and enable farmers to prioritise livestock health while transitioning to new management practices,” she says.