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Funding to improve the health and welfare of cattle, pigs and sheep: guidance for farmers and vets

Cattle, pig and sheep farmers can get funding for vet services. This includes disease testing and advice to improve welfare and productivity.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Rural Payments Agency
Published:
19 June 2024
Last updated:
1 July 2025
Show all updates

  1. Added detail about needing to apply for the agreement to the warning text.

  2. Restructured collections page, rewritten content to better reflect the guidance available. Removed reference to the old Annual Health and Welfare Review.

  3. Warning about endemic disease follow-up not being available for dairy cattle removed.

  4. Added detail about which pathway the funding is part of. Also added more detail about which agreement should be in place.

  5. Clarified that a farmer who is also a vet must not do a health and welfare review on their own farm.

  6. First published.

This service forms part of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.

Funding is also available for poultry biosecurity reviews.

To get funding, you must apply for an Improve Animal Health and Welfare (IAHW) agreement. Before you start any actions from reviews or follow-ups, make sure you have applied and the agreement is in place.

Get started

Farmers should read this guidance to find out:

  • who can claim 

  • how much you can claim

  • how you can apply

How to have an animal health and welfare review

Farmers and vets should read this guidance to find out:

  • when to have a review 
  • what happens on a review 
  • what documentation farmers need to claim funding

How to have an endemic disease follow-up

Farmers and vets should read this guidance to find out:

  • when to have a follow-up 
  • what happens on a follow-up 
  • what documentation farmers need to claim funding

How to work with your vet

Farmers should send this guidance to the vet so they can:

  • see how to sample and test 
  • access the templates to fill in

Vets need to follow the guidance so that farmers are eligible to claim

How to claim

Farmers should read this guidance to find out:

  • when to claim for a review or follow-up 
  • what information to provide when you claim

Other sources of funding

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