The Animal Health and Welfare Review is a win / win for Gloucestershire Old Spots breeders Guy and Melany Kiddy.

We were invited to take part in the pilot for this scheme and having looked at it carefully it looked a great way to get a comprehensive health report for my herd from our vets. The application process is online and very simple to complete.

Once we were given the go ahead, I contacted our vets who came and out to do the blood testing and generally look at our herd of pigs. Being one of the pilots we were the first farm our vets had done so after they had checked how the scheme operated, we proceeded with the visit. The main part of the scheme is to test for PRRS, with a minimum of 30 pigs to be tested of various ages. This involves collecting a blood sample from the jugular vein in the neck

Within 2 weeks of testing, we received a comprehensive health report back from our vets confirming we are PRRS free. This visit also meant we were able to have our vet attestation completed for slaughter pigs. I think this is a great scheme to be able to test for PRRS and have it paid for by the Rural Payments Agency. It can also count as a quarterly or annual vet visit, so it really is a win / win situation.

THE ANIMAL HEALTH & WELFARE PATHWAY (AHWP) HEALTH REVIEW IS NOW OPEN TO ALL PIG KEEPERS IN ENGLAND.

A health and welfare review of livestock provides funding for a farm vet to visit a farm and carry out a health and welfare review of your pigs. It is not an inspection or audit and is optional.

The AHWP review will help to: reduce endemic diseases (diseases known to be present in England) and conditions; increase animal productivity; and improve animal welfare. You can read an introduction to the Pathway from Stewart Houston former BPA Council member here.

For pigs: the priorities are to:

• improve biosecurity to control endemic pig diseases and help prevent the introduction of exotic disease threats
• tackle porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus which costs the industry an estimated £52 million per year and increases antibiotic use

A  grant of £684.00 is provided to enable pig keepers to pay for their chosen farm vet to perform the AHWP review of your pigs and have them tested for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS).

At the same time: You can also ask the vet to provide you with an annual Vet Attestation document, which is a legal requirement from the 13^th of December 2023, if your abattoir exports any part of your pig that you don’t get back e.g., offal, or if you sell through a livestock market.

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?

You need to have;

1. A single business identifier (SBI) linked to a county parish holding (CPH) number (permanent or temporary) registered in England
2. A 10 digit RPA Customer Reference Number (CRN). This would have been emailed to you when you first registered with the RPA service to enable you to start the process.
3. 51 or more pigs of any age on your farm / land at the time of the visit.

Your SBI number will be on your original paperwork when you first registered your CPH Number.

Your CRN would have been emailed to you when you first registered with the RPA service.

If you don’t have either or both, then contact the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) helpline or email and they will assist you (see Table 1.0 below).

HOW DO YOU APPLY?

You can apply online HERE. You will be asked questions about your eligibility to apply, the species being inspected and your farm details.

Once accepted for an AHWP review you will be provided with an Agreement Number e.g., AHWR-123A-A12C.

You must be able to complete the process, including applying for the grant, within 6 months of the date of the Agreement.

 WHAT HAPPENS ONCE HAVE YOUR AGREEMENT NUMBER?

You will arrange for your chosen farm vet to perform an AHWP review, either in a single or multiple visits. In total it takes between two and three hours. The vet will require your AHWR agreement number, Business name (if present), and your SBI number.

You will need to have 30 of your pigs contained / be able to readily contain in a pen for blood sampling. No pigs ages are dictated but growing pigs will most likely be the pig ages the vet wishes to blood sample for PRRS testing. Your vet will let you know.

Typically, the vet will look around your farm asking you questions on feeding, husbandry, health, biosecurity practices and provide you with general advice and farm health planning recommendations (if any) for improvement.  The vet can also be asked to provide advice on specific issues e.g., lameness, body condition scoring, medicine usage etc. All of which will be answered during the visit.

The blood test results will also be discussed with you, including any recommendations (if any) after the vet receives them back from the approved testing laboratory.

The vet will then supply you with a confidential detailed report of the visit, any discussions, and recommendations including from the blood test results; and also, a brief summary review of the detailed report for submission to the RPA, required when you submit your claim for the grant.

On the reports your vet will include your Agreement Number, SBI number, CPH number, species tested and the laboratory testing unique reference number and test results. The report will additionally contain the visit date, number of pigs on farm, confirmation of written report given with achievable actions / recommendations for the pig keeper (typically between 1 and three). All required in the review reports to meet the RPA grant criteria.

**Don’t forget to get your veterinary attestation form completed at the same time**

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE WRITTEN REVIEW AND SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW ARE PROVIDED?

At the time of the original agreement, the RPA will also have provided you with instructions on how to claim for the grant. The instructions include what to upload to make the claim. They may or may not ask for further details e.g., your bank account number, if not previously supplied.

You will then receive an email approving your payment stating you will be paid within 28 days directly to your bank account provided. You can then settle your veterinary fees associated with the visit. You do NOT have to return any excess grant money not spent.

Note: You can have an agreement for an AHWP review of one eligible type of livestock every 10 months. If you have more than one eligible type, you must choose the one you would like reviewed.

Further details of the AHWP review are provided on the links in Table 1.0.

Table 1.0 – useful links