Farmers urged to act as new lambing survey targets rising sector challenges

Sheep farmers are facing mounting pressure this lambing season, as a major new survey launches to capture the realities on the ground across the UK.

The UK Lambing Survey 2026 is calling on producers to share their experiences amid growing concerns over disease threats, vaccine shortages and increasingly unpredictable weather.

Led by the University of Nottingham alongside Fiona Lovatt of Flock Health Ltd, the initiative aims to gather timely insight from farms during one of the most demanding periods in the farming calendar.

Dr Lovatt underlined the strain on producers, saying: “There isn’t a time in a sheep farmer’s calendar more stressful than the lambing season.”

She added that recent years have brought added pressure from “the additional threat of both Schmallenberg and Bluetongue viruses, disrupted vaccine supplies, unpredictable weather conditions and increasing scrutiny” of lambing-time practices.

The survey will collect baseline data on what is happening “on the ground” and “in the lambing shed”, providing evidence to support future decision-making and policy development within the sector.

Dr Lovatt stressed the importance of participation, noting that the UK sheep industry has “a good reputation for responsible medicine stewardship, good practice and high welfare standards”, which must be supported by robust data.

“We are very grateful to everyone who supports this survey, both by filling it in and encouraging others to do so,” she said.

Backed by organisations from across the sheep industry, the survey takes around 12 minutes to complete and all responses are anonymous, with no identifying details collected.

Farmers managing multiple flocks are encouraged to submit separate responses for each, ideally soon after lambing has finished. The survey will remain open until 30 June 2026.

Findings will be published in aggregate form and used to inform the sheep sector’s contribution to the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Targets Task Force (RUMA TTF), helping shape antibiotic stewardship targets through to 2029.

The results will also build on previous studies carried out in 2012, 2017 and 2024, which coincided with significant losses linked to Schmallenberg virus, offering a longer-term view of how disease and management pressures are evolving across UK flocks.