Milk price slump, African swine fever hits Spain, ruminant antibiotic use and bluetongue update

Charlotte: 00:00:00

Well, look who's shown up, eh? He's finally turned up for recording empty handed. May I have that? There appears to be no presents for Hannah, producer Martin or me.

Tom: 00:00:10

Made my way back from Geneva at the GIRA Meat Club, learning all about there. It is to do with pigs, poultry as well, actually, sheep and beef. I did bring a present, but I'm afraid to say my housemate has eaten it already.

The Toblerone did not last very long.

Martin: 00:00:27

So that's the one thing that you can get in every supermarket. Every cor.

Tom: 00:00:33

I picked it up in Geneva and then as I was coming through Luton Airport, I spotted another one and it was about 20% cheaper. That's. But, but, but mine was Swiss.

Charlotte: 00:00:41

You could have lied and gone and got an offer on like a. A club card or a Nectar card price for us. Just pretended you brought it back from Geneva. Hannah's in stunned silence.

Hannah: 00:01:08

Hi, I'm Hannah Clarke.

Charlotte: 00:01:09

I'm Charlotte Forkes Rees, and welcome to The AG Show.

Tom: 00:01:13

I think you forgot about me.

Hannah: 00:01:15

Who said that?

Tom: 00:01:16

That would be me, Tom Spencer.

Charlotte: 00:01:20

Oh, yeah. Welcome back, Tom.

Hannah: 00:01:21

And just as Tom returns to this podcast, so does the topic of milk prices as prices continue to drop.

Tom: 00:01:28

That's right. Our lead analyst Susie Stannard will bring us all up to speed on the latest.

Susie: 00:01:34

The question is, have things improved at all? And unfortunately, no. I'm still going to be the harbinger of doom here. The position's got worse.

So, in terms of milk supplies, November milk supplies were still running really strongly, so still 5.2% up.

Charlotte: 00:01:50

We're talking ruminant antibiotic use, finding out how our beef, lamb and dairy farmers can play a role in championing responsible practice.

Mark: 00:02:00

It isn't antibiotic reduction we're talking about. We're still looking to use antibiotics responsibly when they're needed, but to avoid using them when they could be avoided.

Hannah: 00:02:08

And we get the latest on the fight against blue tongue.

Jennifer: 00:02:11

There is no evidence to suggest that the vaccines will have a negative impact on fertility, either with males or females. But you know, the disease itself, it can cause abortions, fetal deformities and stillbirths.

Tom: 00:02:25

A reminder, new episodes of the Ag show drop every Wednesday at midday. Available wherever you get your podcasts, with.

Charlotte: 00:02:32

Audio and video versions for every show. Just subscribe to make sure you don't.

Hannah: 00:02:37

Miss an episode and please get in touch. As always, we would love to hear from you, comment on any of our social posts or email agshowdb.org UK thank.

Tom: 00:02:50

You guys for welcoming me back to the Ag Show. I trust that the podcast was left in safe hands as I've been listening. So don't think you're going to get away with anything, that's for sure.

Today we are going to head into the news and we've got one topic this week which was very timely of me to have been at a meat club in Geneva talking all things meat, but particularly pork and the outbreak of asf. That's African swine fever in wild boars in Barcelona, Spain.

Hannah: 00:03:22

Yeah, that's right, Tom, and I bet it was a massive point of conversation in Geneva. But at the end of November, ASF was detected in wild boar in Catalonia, particularly near Barcelona, which is in Spain.

If you look on a map, Catalonia is kind of the top right hand triangle on the French border near Andorra. So I think it's the largest or one of the most pig dense regions in Spain. So the fact that ASF has been found in that region is rather a worry.

And there's a lot of news stories and reports and things flying around on this at the moment, understandably. But our senior pork ant, Freya Shuttleworth, has written a piece on this that you can find on the website. So I take no credit for this analysis.

It's all Freya's work.

Tom: 00:04:10

Asf, African swine fever. Yeah, that was something that was detected that caused an unbelievable effect on the amount of pork China could produce.

There was a lot of pigs that had had to be culled as a consequence and ended up having a massive effect on global trade, particularly the amount of trade that was then having to sort of be imported into China to replace the lost stock that they had meant that the prices went significantly up. Exports from countries like Spain, who are the second largest exporter in the world, went through the roof.

It was quite, quite a time for the pork industry and worrying because it was one of those diseases which just really got out of hand in China.

Hannah: 00:04:55

million tons of pig meat in: 2024

The UK produced about 950,000 tonnes, so it's enormous. At time of recording, the disease hasn't been found in commercial pigs, which is a slight silver lining.

But given the scale of the market, even this current level of detection is causing some impact on markets, that's for sure.

Tom: 00:05:30

So, yeah, that's something we're going to keep a sharp eye on as the story unfolds and we can report back to you. If you want to read that article, it is on our website. Freya has done a really good overview of that.

So that's Spain's ASF outbreak, implications for EU pig meat movements and global trade. Please do check that out. Okay, it is time to talk about dairy.

Now, if you've been living under a rock for the past month or so, you might not be aware, but it has been quite a tumultuous time for the dairy industry.

We've seen record drops in the milk price for producers and we've got Susie Stannard from our Market Intelligence team to talk us all through it and hopefully explain to you roughly or more importantly, exactly what's going on, why it's going on and possibly help inform us. Welcome, Susie.

Susie: 00:06:24

Thanks, Tom. Well, if you cast your minds back to when I was last on the program in November, everything was looking pretty bleak.

So we were seeing really strong oversupply in milk, both here, but also beginning to grow really strongly in both the EU and the us. And we'd also seen commodity prices losing a lot of value.

So butter was down about £2,000 a tonne, cream was down about £1,000 a tonne, and cheddar was down £1,200 a ton. And we'd also seen some really steep Farmgate price drops.

So I think quite a lot of people will have heard of that biggest ever single month drop, which was that record breaking 8 pence per litre from Parkham Farms. So the question is, have things improved at all? And unfortunately, no. I'm still going to be the harbinger of doom here, but the position's got worse.

So in terms of milk supplies, November milk supplies were still running really strongly, so still 5.2% up. If you look at this year in total, we've seen an additional 422 million litres of milk over the five year average.

So that is enough to fill olympic swimming pools 182 times. The EU have also broken some milk production records as well. So the Netherlands are up over 7% this latest month. That's their highest ever.

And also us, New Zealand and South America, all producing really, really strongly.

Tom: 00:07:51

Yeah, so really interesting point you make there, Susie, in terms of that global picture.

So what does it mean when there's a global oversupply as well as what you've been saying about a domestic oversupply, how does that affect our domestic dairy farmers?

Susie: 00:08:07

Well, you have to come back to commod prices. So commodity prices and the movement of those is what really affects what's going to happen with farm gate prices.

Extra milk, extra products, extra fat and protein that makes butter and skim milk powder and cheese and all that good stuff just builds up. Demand's okay, it's pretty good, it's quite steady, but it just can't mop up all of that oversupply.

So it's that, that global situation which is really now putting pressure on the UK itself.

Hannah: 00:08:39

And in terms of those price moves, Suzy, we've talked about them being at record levels. Can you just put them in context? What kind of fluctuation would we normally expect to see in milk prices in the market?

Susie: 00:08:50

Generally, one of the features of dairy markets is we see quite high volatility.

You know, we do tend to get this kind of roller coaster effect over sort of a two or three year cycle, but this is really steep in terms of the rate of change. And I suppose if I said to you, Hannah, you're going to get a 27% pay cut next month, how would you feel? You wouldn't feel great about it, would you?

And that's the situation that farmers are facing right now is, you know, they're going from an average of, well, a GB average of sort of 46, 47p a litre down to, we're seeing some people in their low 30s now, which is just a massive, a massive difference.

And it makes it really difficult to kind of plan your business and plan your expenditure when you don't know what your income's going to be and you know that there's going to be a big drop.

Hannah: 00:09:44

And talking about planning for businesses, are we seeing any impact on production? Because we know we've had massive oversupply this year. Are we starting to see any changes on the back of these market moves?

Susie: 00:09:54

We're not seeing it just yet. I think it will take time to filter through. We've revisited our forecast, so we do that on a quarterly basis and yet the market signals come through.

But there's a bit of a lag effect. So it's only just now that farmers will start to have felt the milk price changes in their paychecks.

And there's a real spectrum from what's going on at the top and the bottom. So there's haves and haves and ought. So if you're on an organic contract, for example, you're still probably in the 50s.

If you're on a retailer line contract, then you're, you know, that's based on cost of production, so you're still looking pretty good.

But some of the announcements that have come through And I don't want to pick on any individual processes really, but some are kind of coming through. They've lost 12 pence per litre, but that won't be sorted till January. And that's after that is when we start to feel things feeding through.

Some of the market signals are softened a little bit because they do get bonuses on fat and protein and also seasonality. So, you know, if they produce more in the autumn, then they get some bonuses for that.

And because we've got really strong fat and protein and because we're producing more in the autumn, then it means that those headline milk prices declines will be softened a little bit, so it'll take a bit longer for it to be felt on the production side of things.

So our forecast is saying really we're still going to be in growth situation probably until after the flush now, which will be, you know, sort of April time. But even then we're annualizing against a really, really strong base. So it's still a lot of milk in the system.

And the other fact, of course, is while we've had so much milk, we've made a ton of product. Europe, the US has made a ton of product, which is just sitting there.

And then it takes time to kind of work its way through, which is a bit depressing. But it really means that we won't start to see any market recovery probably until well into the second half of next year.

Hannah: 00:11:51

It's quite stark, isn't it? And how does the supply chain kind of manage this extra volume?

Susie: 00:11:57

It's really difficult, I think, you know, there are some real challenges with processing capacity. So sort most of the time they're kind of coping okay.

If you get a breakdown in a factory, which are not uncommon, then you start to get some real difficulties. And we are hearing stories about milk having to be discarded or milk having to go into the aerobic digester instead of being processed into products.

Last flush, they were taking off the fat, selling that and putting skim through the digester and now they're just putting a whole lot through a digester because the fat's just lost so much value.

Hannah: 00:12:32

It's heartbreaking to see milk just being chucked away like that, isn't it?

Susie: 00:12:35

But it really is, yeah, I guess.

Hannah: 00:12:38

What can farmers do about it?

Susie: 00:12:40

It's really difficult for farmers, but I do feel that knowledge is power and actually knowing what's going on in the market and helping to kind of predict what your prices might do and what the drivers are of that is quite helpful. So do sign up to Dairy market weekly, because that will tell you everything that you need to know and we can put a link to that, that in the chat.

Secondly, I suppose managing costs is really key. Looking really hard at those costs and then managing cash flow is going to be really important as those lower milk prices really hit.

The good news is that beef prices are really strong at the moment.

So if you've got cash that's tied up in coals that you, you know, you've maybe been hanging on to, the prices for carbs is really good at the moment as well, but it's sort of planning ahead.

So, you know, if you're going to be sending some calls off, you need to make sure that there's, you know, abattoir capacity and that you're kind of booked in for when you need that cash. You can also really think about if you've got any concerns about your contract, any worries about unfairness.

There is new legislation which has been set up to address that.

Hopefully everybody's heard sort of fair dealing obligations around milk that basically says that processors need to be transparent about how their milk price is set, that you have good notice and so on and so forth.

If there are any concerns that something's happened which you think is unfair, then the supply chain adjudicator is very keen that those issues get reported to them and you can report those anonymously if needs be. The other thing that you could do is look at your contract and make sure that you're paying really close attention to detail.

We do know that, you know, if you hit all your fat and protein targets or exceed them, if you don't incur any penalties on anything, if you hit your seasonality bonuses and so on, you can really get more out of your contract. And we have heard from one processor that that can be as much as 8p per litre between their top and bottom payers, and that's on the same contract.

So, you know, at a time when you squeeze, that could be really valuable as well.

And this is probably less for now, but, you know, down the road, if you are struggling because it is a worrying time and I think lots of other people will be, I think it's really important just to check each other, check in on mates and, you know, look out for yourself as well. And if you feel you are struggling, then, you know, do speak to somebody.

Hannah: 00:15:11

Definitely. Thank you, Suzy. That was a. That was a really useful update and yeah, please do go and have a look at our website.

Suzy's team publish insights and data and market reports on the topic quite frequently. So please do go and check that out. As Suzy says, knowledge is power. But I think it's time for a quick break.

Hannah: 00:17:27

Welcome back to the Ag Show. Now, we're going to talk about something that's rather important in the sector and that is antibiotic use, specifically ruminant antibiotic use.

And we're very pleased to be joined on the show by Mark Jelly and Fiona Lovett. Now, Mark is the chair of the Cattle Antibiotic Guardian Group. He's also a beef producer and he's on our sector council.

And Fiona is a sheep vet and she's the chair of the Sheep Antibiotic Guardian Group. Guys, welcome to the Ag Show. We're really pleased to have you on. Can you start by just telling us what the roadmap is?

Fiona: 00:18:02

It's a chance for the ruminant sector to take a step back. So we know that over the last six, seven years we've made massive progress in looking at our antibiotic use in ruminants.

But where we sometimes struggle, it is to demonstrate that both to consumers and to authorities and government, the roadmap is a chance for us to work together, red meat and dairy industries to look at that.

Mark: 00:18:27

Yeah.

Demonstration of responsible antibiotic use is of increasing importance to our consumers and as a result of that, the supply chain are obviously becoming a lot more interested in and invested in it as well as farmers.

We know that we're already legally obliged to record our purchase and use of veterinary medicines on farm, but turning this requirements into evidence of responsible use is actually really difficult at a national level to really provide a good picture of what's going on.

And not only that, farmers need to be confident that the data that's being used is being used responsibly by whoever has access to it, and that's really hard as well.

So we've made great progress in the last three or four years with collecting a proportion of data, but we have a really big sector and that's made it challenging to actually achieve high representation across the sector. And other food producing species, unfortunately, in the UK are able to demonstrate their medicine use both with confidence and to really high level.

And it's leaving ruminant sector behind.

So we need to be looking at this and we also need to understand that there are many competitor nations now that are actually legislating for this data collection too. So it isn't a question of us just not doing anything, because if we do, we really are going to be at a disadvantage.

Hannah: 00:19:34

Yeah, it's definitely a key topic, isn't It. And I wonder if we could just take a bit of a step back. So we hear a lot about antibiotic use, antibiotic resistance.

Why is antibiotic stewardship and best practice a big deal for the ruminant sector?

Mark: 00:19:49

It isn't antibiotic reduction we're talking about, it's responsible use. So we're still looking to use antibiotics responsibly when they're needed, but to avoid using them when they could be avoided.

And that could be by improving management practices. It could be through use of vaccinations. There's all sorts of ways that antibiotic use can be used in a more responsible way, if you like.

And generally speaking, the ruminant sector is already very good at that. But as Fiona said, we're not particularly good at actually evidencing that.

Fiona: 00:20:17

As a vet spending a lot of time with sheep farmers, I know how incredibly distressing it is when you have an animal that needs to be treated with the medicine. And we absolutely need to maintain access to medicines when we need them for animal health and welfare reasons.

Not only do we need access to medicines, but we also need access medicines that work.

And by us all working together and making sure we carefully use what we do have, we've got a better chance of maintaining the life of those medicines.

Mark: 00:20:47

And you mentioned, Hannah, about resistance. We already have the veterinary medicines Director at the VMD doing resistance surveys of samples from abattoirs and things like that.

So we're already looking, as an industry at the potential for resistance problems.

Now, again, at the moment, there isn't any particular concern, but longer term, we need access to these antibiotics for human use and we need to make sure we're protecting our animals as well.

Fiona: 00:21:11

So we know that many of our sheep and beef farmers are really careful with how they use antibiotics, and we do have inspiring stories to tell. You know, we've got anecdotal evidence of people making dramatic changes to maybe management or maybe using things very responsibly.

But in terms of data, we struggle to do it on a national level or on a kind of comprehensive level in which we can defend the sector where we feel if we all pull in the same direction, farmers, vets and everybody involved with the supply chain, that we can actually pin our colours to the mast and say, here we all are. We're saying the same thing, everyone's taking their own responsibility. But treating animals with medicines is a complicated thing as it is.

If we're not all pulling in the same direction, it's nigh on impossible to both get the right outcomes and demonstrate it. And the roadmap is one way that we're saying, can we all jump on the same bus?

If that's not another strange analogy, can we all get to the same place together? Because we all have this shared ambition and need as an industry.

Hannah: 00:22:23

Definitely that collaboration is so important, isn't it? How can producers in the wider industry get involved in your roadmap?

Fiona: 00:22:31

They could partake in our survey. So it's not a lengthy thing. Very early on, it asks you whether you're a vet or a farmer and it asks you appropriate questions.

But to actually pull in opinions and ideas and what's actually happening for individuals is really important. So both we want people to sign up and complete the survey themselves. Please do that.

But please also pass it on to colleagues, clients, cascade it through your various networks. If you're in a WhatsApp group with a load of other farmers, please send it to them and say, hey, can you fill this in? It's all our own interests.

Mark: 00:23:10

Yeah. And just to reiterate, the survey is anonymous. The data collected from that will be used by us responsibly. But we are building on existing work.

We're not starting from fresh here. We're trying to make what's already been done better and improve the outcomes for everybody in the future, too.

Charlotte: 00:23:26

Fiona.

Hannah: 00:23:26

Mark, thank you so much for your time and joining us on the Ag Show. We will include a link to your survey in our show notes so people can go and access the. It is live now.

Please do go and fill it out and help the cause. So, guys, thank you so much for your time. I think now it's time for a quick break.

Charlotte: 00:25:16

Welcome back. It is that time of the show where we hand over to producer Martin to make his appearance.

And each week I do think he's gonna be turning up modeling James Bond and he always lets me down and doesn't. But I think it's time for field agents again. Martin.

Martin: 00:25:35

Yeah, James Bond's having a bit of a day off, but if you want some branded AK show merchandise, then, you know, maybe you want a branded microphone.

Tom: 00:25:46

I want a water bottle with the.

Martin: 00:25:47

AKTIO splashed across it. Then do get in touch with me. The email address is Slapper sticker on a product@ahdb.org.uk Anyway, I digress.

It is time to fight rural crimes against plain English. Bust some jargon, as it were, decipher confusing acronyms in field agents Farming industry explained language decoded a needless acronym.

But hopefully you get the point as there are already far Too many confusing farming terms out there.

Susie: 00:26:17

Welcome back. Welcome back.

Martin: 00:26:18

Agent Tom, you left Toby Larrone with your housemates and well, you left the other bar at customs. But as reward for daring to show your face around here again, I am giving you KPIs versus CSFs. Yes.

Not one but two acronyms for you to explain and tell us all the difference between them.

Tom: 00:26:41

Thank you Martin.

Jennifer: 00:26:42

Yep.

Tom: 00:26:42

Seems like it's been left to me now that I've come back, I'm put in the hot seat. But no very important topic.

These are two business terms that are used in wider business conversations but I think they're actually almost easier to explain when you apply them to farming. So KPI, that's key performance indicator and csf critical success factor. So we'll start off with critical success factor.

That's your wider strategy for your business.

Jennifer: 00:27:09

Business.

Tom: 00:27:09

What are the things that you need to nail in this long term so that you can continue the viability of your business?

Now my good analogy for this one is, well I say analogy example is back on the home farm down in Kent just outside Canterbury, if you ever passing through, we farm arable with a small beef herd and dad employs two people.

Now critical to success is those two, two people enjoying the business, staying with the business, being within the sort of long term ethos of where the business is traveling.

Every decision potentially that needs to be made needs to make sure that those two people are going to perform, stay with the business, enjoy themselves because if they're not, that's where performance just completely drops off. KPI's key performance indicator, that's more your day to day.

So within the year, within the farming year, what are those little things that you need to get right to be able to have a successful year? An example of this might be that your critical success factor is your herd health if you're a beef farmer for example.

But the actual KPI might be that mortality. So if you're experiencing a high mortality rate, the end value of your bottom line will be impacted.

Hannah: 00:28:26

Impacted.

Tom: 00:28:26

It's something that if you can track your KPIs you'll be able to make decisions within the year on the fly almost.

So if your mortality rate you're making sure to track that, you'll be able to potentially have to be able to buy in stock to use up excess space in your shed so you can just creep up that margin to maximize it even if something isn't, isn't going in the right direction. Hopefully I can show listeners that gives you a bit of a quick rundown into a bit of a business lesson.

Martin: 00:28:55

Yes, thank you very much, Agent Tom. So Therehere you are. KPI, CSF. Now you know the difference.

If you've got any acronyms or other farming terms that you want to have explained, then akshowdb.orguk is the email address.

Tom: 00:29:14

So we've touched on disease earlier in the show in the form of. Of asf, African Swine Fever. Now it's time to turn over to a disease which unfortunately is a lot closer to home in the form of blue tongue.

Now we're joined by Jennifer Morgan to talk us through what the situation is in the UK and basically give us a bit of an update. Jennifer, welcome to the Ag Show.

Jennifer: 00:29:39

ss to the UK around September: 2023

So it's been here for a little while.

of last year, so I'm talking: 2024

So it does tend to go down with low vector period. So when it gets a bit colder, this particular disease is spread by biting midges. So as you can imagine, there are fewer colder times.

But that doesn't mean that they're not necessarily in some farm building. So everyone still has to be quite vigilant.

And actually, even now we seen it reach Wales and recent cases have actually come across Northern Ireland for the first time. So it is still spreading west, it's still very active and it's still a very real situation for farmers.

Tom: 00:31:00

So, yeah, you've talked about how it spreads. What's the effect of blue tongue on livestock? Now? It's sheep and cattle that we're. That we're talking about, isn't it?

And is there any sort of myth busting that we need to do about blue tongue?

Jennifer: 00:31:14

Well, it's more about vaccination, you probably won't be surprised to hear, because everyone will be having flashbacks to Covid when that came out and the nervousness around getting vaccinated then. What we do tend to come here regularly from farmers is a worry around whether or not vaccination is going to affect fertility in stock.

And just to say categorically, there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccines will have a negative impact on fertility, either with males or females. But the disease itself, it can cause abortions, fetal deformities and stillbirths. And we are expecting to see the fallout of that.

You know, as we enter the spring months, lambing and calving really sort of starts. That is when the modeling suggests that we're going to be hearing about a lot more cases and a lot more farms being affected.

Tom: 00:32:06

In terms of trying to track where the disease is in the UK and how the hdb, amongst other governing bodies, can look at the data. How is that data collected and how can farmers potentially help with that data collection?

Jennifer: 00:32:24

There's a few methods. I mean, one thing I do have to say is this is a notifiable disease. So, you know, and I know that everyone knows what that means.

But, you know, we do have a legal responsibility to report any suspicion. So that's not just cases, it's suspicion not to have the point home too much, but not to do so is an offence.

So it's really, really important that farmers are talking to their vets and getting advice right from the office, as I'm sure that they are. But in terms tracking it, you get that through reported cases. And we do give regular updates on AHDB webinar series, I have to say.

So if anybody is interested, do please look at our webinar series. It's on our website.

You can watch back and hear last night, for instance, Gordon Hickman, who is head of exotic disease policy for defra, and he was talking about the number of reported cases. But in terms of things that you can do proactively at this moment in time, we've got a.

Well, we're calling it the BTV for short because it's quite wordy. But the Blue Tongue Impact Survey survey is live until 31st December and farmers are being asked to take part in this industry led impact survey.

So we can understand the impact that's having financially and on stock and, you know, all those other crucial things that we all want to know and be able to kind of measure for people.

And the other thing that we're doing is we're approaching sheep scanners, so we want to be able to provide useful information to those scanners so that they can help farmers understand any disease impacts on those scanning rates. And that's something that I don't think has been addressed or considered before now. So if anybody does want to get involved.

All they have to do is go to the ruinant health and welfare website and they can sign up to take part.

Tom: 00:34:08

As an analyst, I'm always looking at this, the impact of blue tongue and it's been something we've seen significant impact in Europe.

Now, this hit Europe earlier than it did the uk, which in some respects gives us a bit of an early warning of what the effects are and how to react to it. But I'm right in saying, Jennifer, you've got a blue tongue vaccine calculator, is that right?

Sort of give farmers an ability to enter their details to their farm and look at what the potential impacts of an outbreak might be if you're not vaccinated.

Jennifer: 00:34:39

That's exactly right, Tom.

And it also gives you an idea of the difference if your farm is vaccinated, so what your cost might be to become vaccinated and conversely, what the cost is if you're not vaccinated. And we have one for dairy, so it's important to mention that dairy, you know, are also within this.

We have one for beef and we have one for sheep as well.

So you can really apply it to any of your flocks and your herds and it just helps with that conversation with your vet as well, so that farmers can go into it and be really informed and really realistic. And in a way, I suspect less nervous about what that cost implication might be if they already feel like they've got a bit of a handle on it.

So just be talking that through with their vets, they can work on it together.

Vets are really aware of this tool, you know, we've developed it with them so that they know how to kind of talk the farmers through that and advise them on choices that are appropriate for them and their situation.

Tom: 00:35:40

Have we got any webinars coming up soon that you might be able to plug for farmers to tune into?

Jennifer: 00:35:47

We have just finished one last night, which is the kind of year end roundup. There was lots of people involved.

So I've already mentioned Gordon Hickman got the initial results from Winter surveillance, a technical update, an update on Northern Ireland, and we've also got insight into what might happen next year in terms of policy with regard to England. So it is really interesting things that I think people will want to hear about.

In addition to that, we've also got Neil Shand from the NBA and Rob Hall's a vet and they're actually talking about their experiences, you know, their real life experiences of what they've seen, who they've heard from who they've spoken to, what farmers are saying to them and the impact that they're actually seeing on farms. So it's a really interesting session to watch.

The other thing is, for those that are maybe still apprehensive about vaccinations and want and have heard particular things about perhaps the supply coming in, we did a webinar on the 3rd of December that addresses that.

So we had three vaccine manufacturers and vet associations on there, talking through availability, answering questions, addressing any of those kind of myths that are coming up.

And if people aren't sure and all these webinars, I do want to say that they are live so that anybody who is signing up for them, they can submit questions and they do get taken in and we do look at them and we do answer them and update the website regularly and add that to that bulk of information. So it really is a really interactive process. I'd really encourage people to look out for the next one when it's being set up.

But we have wrapped up for: 2025

Tom: 00:37:30

ngue? As we move forward into: 2026

Jennifer: 00:37:39

I think the best thing to do is to think about vaccination as an insurance policy. You're never not going to take out house insurance just because you haven't had a farm. And that's the same thing with this.

You would never not vaccinate your animals and not protect them and protect your business in that same way. So it's, you know, think of it as your insurance policy.

You know, hopefully you don't come across it, but at least you know that your animals and your business are protected. And always talk to your vet. Your vet is going to be the best person to advise you on your own individual situation.

Charlotte: 00:38:15

Well, I think that's all we've got time for on this, this week's Ag show. We've covered an awful lot today, from African swine fever and milk prices to the ruminant antibiotic roadmap and the latest on blue tongue.

Next week we'll be diving into mental health in agriculture and also finding out a little bit more about Tom's trip to Jura. Now, remember, new episodes drop every Wednesday at midday, so make sure to tune in.

Got any, any comments, questions or fancy being one of the farms which we feature on the show? Drop us an email agshowdb.orguk we would love to hear from you. Until then, take care, and thanks for listening.

Hannah: 00:38:57

Bye.