By vet India Hoey
The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway (AHWP) has been available since February 2023, originally launched as the Annual Health and Welfare Review.
Since then, the level of funding has increased, making it an even more useful opportunity for livestock farmers to review and improve health and management on farm.
The following amounts are available for the Animal health and welfare review: Beef cattle £647, Dairy Cattle £447, Sheep £574.
Applying for the scheme is straightforward. First, you need to apply for an Improve Animal Health and Welfare (IAHW) agreement number through the Rural Payments Agency. Once you have both your IAHW number and a valid Single Business Identifier (SBI), you can arrange your funded review with your vet.
To qualify, farms need to meet minimum livestock numbers and have an SBI. The thresholds are: 11 beef cattle, 11 dairy cattle 21 sheep.
The aim of the scheme is to support disease monitoring, testing, and management, helping to improve animal health while also making farm businesses more resilient. For cattle, the focus is mainly on BVD, while in sheep the emphasis is on parasite control, including checking how well your wormers are working.
When your vet visits for the review, they will carry out a tailored assessment of your herd or flock. This usually involves taking samples, such as bulk milk samples in dairy herds, blood samples in beef cattle, or faecal samples in sheep. This helps build a picture of disease status on farm.
Alongside sampling, the visit is also a good chance to have a broader discussion about how things are going on farm. Your vet will look at areas such as biosecurity and medicine use. It’s a useful opportunity to evaluate your current management and identify any areas for improvement. For example, you might confirm that your herd is free from BVD or make sure your worming plan is still doing what it should.
After the visit, your vet will put together a report based on what was discussed and any lab results. They’ll also provide a vet summary, which you’ll need in order to submit your claim and receive the funding.
Once you’ve completed your initial review, you become eligible for an endemic disease follow-up. For cattle, this depends on what the first review finds. If BVD is detected, your vet may suggest further investigation, with increased funding available to support this. If BVD isn’t found, you can still claim funding for a follow-up that focuses on reviewing and strengthening your farm’s biosecurity.
For sheep, there’s more flexibility in how the follow-up can be used. You can choose from a range of options depending on what’s most relevant to your flock, including ewe condition, reproductive performance, lamb performance and lameness. This could include screening more diseases such as MV, OPA and border disease.
This makes it a great opportunity to investigate any ongoing issues or concerns you may have and use the funding where it will have the most benefit on your farm.
After your initial review, you have up to 10 months to organise and complete the follow-up on the same herd or flock. The scheme allows you to claim for up to three reviews and three follow-ups per species, as long as each review is at least 10 months apart.
The AHWP is currently due to close on 19th June 2027. If you’re thinking about getting involved, it’s well worth taking advantage of while the funding is still available. It not only provides financial support for these investigations but also gives a structured opportunity to review, monitor, and improve the health and performance of your livestock.