Opinions and practices of veterinarians and dairy farmers towards herd health management in the UK

Abstract

The objective was to compare farm veterinary surgeons' and dairy farmers' opinions on herd health plans and herd health and production management with the aim of discovering and better understanding the differences. Two comparable questionnaires, one for farm veterinarians and one for dairy farmers, were distributed throughout the UK. While listing the 'major roles' of the veterinarian on the farm, veterinarians considered 'optimising milk production', 'decreasing overall cost' and 'being an independent adviser' as important roles, but these were not seem to be perceived as such by the farmers. In addition, when presenting themselves to clients, veterinarians seemed to favour the 'friend of the farmer' approach; a much smaller proportion of farmers seemed to prefer this approach. The majority of farm respondents (98 of 121; 81 per cent) valued the discussions with their veterinarian, and it was apparent from the relatively small proportion of veterinarians instigating a discussion on farm (33 of 125; 26 per cent) that there is the opportunity for a more proactive approach from veterinarians. The study underlines that 'demonstrating cost-effectiveness' is still a main concern for veterinarians and farmers and identifies areas that can be improved by more training and effective communication.

A multidisciplinary approach to determine factors associated with calf rearing practices and calf mortality in dairy herds

“…In this study, the veterinary advisor discussed with the farmers about their calf rearing practices, asked questions on routines that were used by the farmers, discussed possible knowledge gaps and on-farm improvement possibilities for optimal rearing practices. From literature it is known that the preference of the farmer, in their relation with veterinary advisors, is a proactive approach of the veterinarian and the ability to have good discussions on possible farm improvements (Hall and Wapenaar, 2012;Jansen et al, 2010b;Kristensen and Enevoldsen, 2008).…”

Associations between farmer participation in veterinary herd health management programs and farm performance

“…Previous research has shown that the relationship farmers have with their veterinarian is a significant predictor for participation in VHHM (Derks et al, 2013). Also, veterinarians are not always aware of the goals the farmer wants to reach (Kristensen and Enevoldsen, 2008;Derks et al, 2012b;Hall and Wapenaar, 2012), although knowledge of the farmer's goals is important for compliance to veterinary advice (Sorge et al, 2010). Finally, farmers can be hard to reach with preventive advice and sometimes need a more tailor-made approach (Jansen et al, 2010b).…”

“…Lievaart and Noordhuizen (1999) found a participation rate in the Netherlands of 37.2%. Hall and Wapenaar (2012) found that in the United Kingdom, large differences existed between practices: 40% of the practices had less than 25% of their farmers enrolled in a VHHM program, whereas 30% of the practices had more than 50% of their farmers enrolled.…”

Control of infectious diseases in dairy cattle

“…The individual approach to a dairy farm because of its particular characteristics is important and communication styles of different stakeholders can be hierarchical, complex and challenging (Enticott, 2008). Veterinarians' perception of their role and communication style can be at odds with farmers' reported preferences (Hall and Wapenaar, 2012).…”