Farmers are being invited to join a scheme which will give them access to post-mortem data on their pigs to help monitor the health of their herd and potentially save money.
The scheme provides information to farmers on the diseases they may not be aware of, or just live with, such as a low-level cough, on their units.
By looking closely at the condition of the pigs, it will help improve health and welfare and reduce unexplained falls in performance.
Through the AHDB’s Pig Health Scheme, pigs are assessed at slaughter, by trained veterinary assessors, for 12 different conditions in the lungs, heart, liver, tail and skin, including Enzootic Pneumonia and Pleuritis.
Farmers will receive a report on the health of pigs from their unit to discuss with their vet, which will allow them to take steps to get ahead of any disease before it becomes a greater problem.
Lauren Turner, Pork Processing Projects Manager said: “Where there are no visible signs that confirm the presence of some diseases, or where visible signs are considered the ‘norm’ on your farm, it can be hard to determine disease prevalence.
“The Pig Health Scheme will allow you to get information on diseases that you may not be aware of, and may help to reduce those unexplained falls in performance that seem to have no cause, but gradually lose you money over time by reducing growth rates for example.”
She added: “The only additional thing you will need to do is to review the information during routine meetings with your vet and act if required. Regular, active health planning with your vet is the most cost-effective way to reduce disease and improve welfare.”
The new scheme replaces the British Pig Health Scheme (BPHS) which was paused in October 2017 to allow AHDB to work with abattoirs and vets to review and improve it.
Following a successful tender process, the training and quality assurance part of the scheme has been awarded to Vetscore Limited and the physical abattoir assessments awarded to Eville and Jones Commercial Services Limited.
Farmers taking part will receive three reports – one with health information 48 hours after the abattoir monitoring; a quarterly unit comparison report so producers can compare themselves to other units; and a time comparison report using historical data from the last three years, once it’s available.
The scheme can be also used as a resource to monitor the effects of any changes relating to feed or vaccination programmes.
