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Farm Animals
Livestock Vaccination
Guideline for dairy beef and sheep sectors
NOAH’s Livestock Vaccination Guideline provides support to vets, SQPs and farmers, to help improve the health and welfare of UK sheep and cattle and support farm resilience and sustainable improvements in productivity.
Preventing and controlling disease on farm has never been more important, in the face of new agriculture policies, evolving disease challenges, new trading arrangements and the urgent need to meet environmental sustainability goals in response to climate change. Healthier animals mean better welfare and more sustainable farming. A preventative health approach for UK livestock, supported through vaccination, is an integral part of achieving this.
The NOAH guideline brings together current veterinary clinical experience and research to demonstrate a proactive, best practice approach to vaccination in the dairy, beef and sheep sectors. The guideline encourages discussion between vets and farmers to help them apply effective vaccination strategies on farm, catalysing change to ensure that the benefits from livestock vaccination are realised.
May 2022 updated August 2022
Pledge your support for our Livestock Vaccination Guideline here!
Our Vision for UK Animal Health and Welfare
Agriculture Policy that’s fit for the future
NOAH Vision Paper sets out our ambition for the development of a new chapter in UK agriculture policy. Providing the vision and framework, it identifies what needs to be done and how it can be delivered to improve the health and welfare of our livestock, placing animal health at its heart to deliver key benefits for all – including delivering a true One Health.
Taking an animal health perspective delivers benefits in terms of welfare, productivity, sustainability and resilience of farms – all helping farmers to prepare for changes in trading outside the EU. NOAH’s overall priority is to help secure a sustainable long-term future for farming and the rural economy.
There are challenges: for example, static productivity levels and a lack of national co-ordination and forward momentum for endemic disease control and monitoring needs to be addressed. But there is also a wealth of experience and expertise in farm animal health in the UK and we have an unprecedented opportunity to tackle these challenges and guide animal health and welfare towards an achievable vision.
The Vision paper sets out a holistic approach as no single action is going to deliver proper forward momentum.
The paper puts forward recommendations that include
- (1) animal health – tackling endemic disease
- (2) help for farm infrastructure and equipment and
- (3) investing in farm staff
The NOAH AMBP (Animal Medicines Best Practice) training programme, delivering training in responsible antibiotic use for farmers, is a good case study of industry working together to deliver practical solutions. This programme has been endorsed by Government and is well supported throughout the farming and veterinary sector.
NOAH’s call to action asks that both industry and Government work collaboratively to design and deliver a clear UK strategy for animal health and welfare, to seize this huge and unprecedented opportunity for UK to lead, and deliver sustainable agriculture.
October 2019
