Pig health scheme to return in autumn
AHDB’s popular Pig Health Scheme will return this autumn with an enhanced benchmarking feature, following a coronavirus-enforced hiatus.
Under the free-to-join scheme, assessors monitor English pigs at slaughter for the prevalence and severity of 12 different conditions. This enables producers and their vets to track the health of their herd, with data being used to inform management changes to reduce levels of disease.
We know from talking to producers just how many are keen to start receiving herd health data once more.
Through September and October, our main priority is delivering refresher training for assessors.
We are fortunate that 10 of our existing assessors are now available. To bolster numbers, we also have a group of seven new assessors who will undergo the full training provided by VetScore.
The plan is for a phased return of Pig Health Scheme assessments at several plants.
Lauren Turner is AHDB animal health & welfare scientist
