Growth Ambitions
4. How we will… enable global leadership in animal health and welfare
“Animal welfare and the respectful rearing of animals is one of the cornerstones of the Scotch brand messaging and is important in defining how we see animals as part of our food production system”
We will achieve this through the following Key Focus Areas
(click each focus area to find out more)
Scotland is renowned for its high standard of animal husbandry. We can be proud of our record on animal health and welfare and our history as world pioneers when it comes to quality assurance.
However, in an increasingly competitive global market, we need to continue leading from the front and take advantage of the world-leading research institutes that are based in Scotland to enhance the national reputation for quality produce and proficient husbandry. Delivering improvements in animal health and welfare is not a job for one individual agency, and success will be dependent on the cumulative impact of primary producers and wider stakeholders combined.
Governments, producers, enforcement agencies, retailers, auctioneers, vets and each of us as consumers all have a part to play.
Through the industry-wide consultation that ran in the spring of 2021, industry comments around where they see the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) are summarised below:
Strengths
- High level of welfare competency and animal welfare standards, enforced through a mix of legislation and voluntary involvement in Scottish quality assurance schemes.
- Leading and robust whole of life, whole of supply chain Assurance Standards that also involve a unique partnership with the Scottish SPCA.
- High degree of industry collaboration to control and/or eradicate disease, for example, on BVD.
- Scottish-based movement and electronic identification database (ScotEID, with data owned by Scotland’s farmers).
Opportunities
- The implementation of bovine EID in 2022 provides the opportunity to develop traceability provision that includes data collection and communication.
- With two world-class vet schools in Scotland, and another proposed for Aberdeen, opportunities exist in developing industry support to mentor, support and develop new livestock vets to retain them within Scotland.
- The Scottish Government’s commitment to the new Scottish Veterinary Service provides a prime opportunity to develop overarching frameworks for provision of key services to the Scottish livestock sector.
- There is an opportunity to further integrate research to on-farm, farmer-led trials to give farm-level analysis and results to research projects, and further develop applied research projects in Scotland.
Weaknesses
- Vet provision has become increasingly difficult, with many practices facing recruitment and retention challenges.
- Scotland has a lower level of productivity than other competing nations
- There is no single, over-arching organisation leading on animal health/animal health leadership.
Threats
- Climate change is accelerating new disease and parasite challenges.
- Antimicrobial resistance is climbing up the consumer agenda and potentially creating challenges at farm level.
- Anthelmintic resistance is leading to a loss of key flukicides and wormers at farm level, and there is an increased risk of uncontrolled parasitic disease, such as sheep scab.
- Endemic disease is reducing the productivity of the Scottish cattle herd.
- Genetic loss is occurring from unconscious breeding decisions.
- Negative public messaging and media coverage has led to consumer concern about areas of production.
One of the keys to tackling climate change, and boosting economic growth, is to improve productivity. There were an average of 82 calves reared per 100 suckler cows in 2019, with those missing 18 calves meaning increased emissions, increased waste, and decreased output from the herd18.
Targeting improvvements in productivity by improving animal health has never been more critical. Extensive research into factors influencing productivity loss consistently points to three key influences – nutrition, neonatal survival and fertility.
Many of the production factors that influence productivity have been encompassed in the principles behind the Suckler Beef Climate Report.
18. Source: SRUC (2021) Structure and Efficiency of the Scottish Beef Herd – Cattle Tracing System Insights.