Vet and farmer trials in Wales of a bespoke app to enhance farm biosecurity have improved livestock health and prompted actions to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animals.
The vets and farmers have been trialling the HerdSafe farm biosecurity risk assessment app as part of the Arwain DGC (Defnydd Gwrthficrobaidd Cyfrifol / Responsible Antimicrobial Use) programme.
Funded by the Welsh Government, the award-winning Arwain DGC programme supports farmers and vets in the fight against AMR through data-driven decisions, innovative technologies, and promoting best practices.
Arwain DGC programme partners, Iechyd Da, in partnership with Cefn Gwlad Solutions Ltd, developed the HerdSafe biosecurity risk-assessment app, a hand-held tool which can be used on a phone or tablet.
Working together, farmers and their vets use the app to identify potential biosecurity risk areas and produce a weighted risk score for individual farms and action points discussed.
To date, some 30 livestock farms and 13 veterinary practices have been using the HerdSafe app to improve farm biosecurity.
NFU Cymru President Abi Reader has been one of the farmers trialling the app. With her vet, Morgan Hanks of South Wales Farm Vets Ltd, Abi uses the app to improve biosecurity on her farm in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The technology, Abi said, has enabled a more dynamic on-farm discussion about biosecurity, “because the app allows you to be on location with your vet and ask questions ‘live’, it’s easier to both spot areas you may not have considered risky and to discuss options to close down that risk.”
As a result, she believes the app has made the discussion on health and biosecurity “feel more meaningful than just talking about foot dips and fences.” The results, she says, “feel like I have better control over shutting down or reducing multiple risk factors. Crucially, it helps you focus on what’s achievable and effective and feel positive you’ve made a difference as opposed to worrying about an enormous to-do list that can be overwhelming and demotivating.”
For many farmers, the main challenge in implementing biosecurity action points comes from the potential financial outlay, especially as fencing or perimeter containment is expensive. However, Abi said, the app enables discussion around what is feasible. “For example, can a simple solar-powered electric fence around your feed store at night suffice, or using a wildlife camera to see if you have a problem in the first place, before you spend money. Other conversations included options for feeding youngstock outside and how to reduce possible risk.”
Abi said that improving biosecurity helps improve animal health and productivity and reduce antibiotic use.
“Our antibiotic usage keeps falling, and we are way below the national average at 2mg/kg. As with many things, it’s often never any one change you make; it’s an accumulation of them. And that’s what the app is all about: shutting off as many gaps in your health planning as you can. It’s not a silver bullet for eradicating diseases, like bovine tuberculosis, but it’s a huge part of the picture. Cows that get in calf quickly, calve down without trouble and have a great lactation without problems are what I want to see. Health management is an enormous topic; it’s never about any one problem in isolation.”
Taking part in the HerdSafe app trial has also helped develop the farmer-vet relationship.
Abi said, “I definitely think our relationship with our vet has been enhanced. We rarely have emergency callouts; all vet visits are focused on being proactive. The more my vet understands how the farm operates, the greater the quality of advice and support she can give me, meaning health and performance continue to improve, which saves considerable time and money. I have a zero tolerance to firefighting.”
From a vet’s perspective, the app has provided a useful platform for discussing biosecurity.
Morgan Hanks said, “The app has been a great conversation starter about a topic that is sometimes not prioritised in the busy day-to-day lives of both farmers and vets.
“It has helped immensely with discussions, and the simple questions trigger more in-depth questions that are more specific to each farm. The app has definitely highlighted areas of concern and has made these concerns more apparent to farmers and enabled them to focus on solutions.”
Morgan said she has also found the app easy to use whilst on farm during routine fertility visits as well as by phone, and when fully developed, she thinks the app will be “very beneficial to vets and their clients.”
Iechyd Da director, Ifan Lloyd, said, “The team that led this biosecurity workstream are extremely pleased with the commitment of the participating vets and their farmer clients in carrying out comprehensive biosecurity risk assessments using the HerdSafe app. As a result, 30 farms in Wales have implemented a range of changes, which have led to improved biosecurity and infection control protocols.
“Not surprisingly, most improvements were related to risks associated with the movement of animals – be this the sourcing of animals introduced onto the farm, their disease status, quarantine arrangements and any testing or treatments during the quarantine period. Boundary management and straying of stock were other key areas highlighted, although some vets cited practical barriers and cost issues as barriers to change.”
HerdSafe trial vets have also shared their experiences at a biosecurity workshop, which was held as part of the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) workstream within the Arwain DGC programme.
In addition to evaluating the use of the HerdSafe app to promote improved biosecurity among farmer clients, another key aim was to understand the factors that affect how farmers and vets engage with biosecurity and to identify the barriers and enablers to improving farm biosecurity. The design of the app’s questions and the use of a numerical score to quantify the risks were highlighted as particularly important motivating factors.
Ifan said, ““The prime aim of the scoring system is to prioritise hazards, demonstrate risk improvements and promote discussion between the vet and the farmer. The impact of any proposed changes recommended by the vet (and agreed by the farmer) could be measured by the change in the score in a “what if…” manner. Improvements made by the farmer were subsequently reflected by the new score when the farm was re-assessed after 9 – 12 months.
“There was a collective agreement by vets who attended the workshop of the value of further rollout of this type of biosecurity tool to the wider farming community in Wales.”
