The annual health and welfare review provides farmers who keep cattle, sheep and pigs with the funding to pay for a vet to visit their farm and carry out an annual health and welfare review.
The review is part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer and 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
Initially, only BPS (Basic Payment Scheme) eligible farmers will be able to register but it is planned to open the program up to non-BPS registered farmers, large and small.
Signing Up
The first step is to register your interest on GOV.UK which is simple and only takes 5 minutes. At present, you will only be able to register for one review, but Defra are working to expand this to allow multiple reviews, including for multiple species in the future.
Once your eligibility has been checked, you will receive an email inviting you to apply which includes a link to the guidance.
Payment rates
The payment rates, which will include the cost of the vet’s time and the diagnostic testing have been agreed at:
- £684 for pigs
- £436 for sheep
- £522 for beef cattle
- £372 for dairy cattle
The difference in the species rates is down to the cost of the diagnostic tests.
View the full guidance at: SFI annual health and welfare review – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
