Guidance

Vets: testing cattle for animal health and welfare review

Updated 9 October 2024

Applies to England

Testing, sampling and advice 

Test type and sampling for beef cattle 

To test for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) in beef cattle, you should do a blood (serum) antibody test.

Number of samples  

For the farmer to be eligible to claim funding, you must do 5 tests on unvaccinated youngstock aged 9 to 18 months in up to 2 epidemiological groups.  

Test type and sampling for dairy cattle 

To test for BVD in dairy cattle, you should do a bulk milk test. You can choose with the farmer whether to do an antibody or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bulk milk test. 

You should not use the results of a bulk milk test done before the farmer applied for the review. 

If you’re confident the farmer has the expertise to carry out bulk milk sampling and they agree, they can take the sample. The farmer should not do the test.

You and the farmer can decide to do a blood (serum) antibody test instead of a bulk milk test. The results would be accepted, but the £372 payment rate for a dairy cattle review will not change. The antibody test must be to the same standard as is specified for beef cattle.

Read CHECS technical guidance on the BVD check test for more information.

Review medicine usage (optional) 

The farmer may ask you to review farm medicines, including how to prescribe and use them. 

You could discuss: 

• recommendations about medicines used on the farm, including antibiotics and vaccinations 
• how and when to use preventative medicines, and how to store them 
• the value of testing over treatment and why the right diagnostics can save money

You can tell the farmer about the AHDB Medicine Hub. You could explain how it can help them and encourage them to register if they have not already.

Test sample laboratory analysis

Send the test sample to a laboratory for analysis. A farmer will not be eligible for funding unless the laboratory meets at least one of these specifications:

• ISO/IEC 17025 accredited
• UKAS accredited (UK accredited) for BVD testing

Find a recommended laboratory to test for BVD in cattle.

Test results

You should:

• discuss the test results and any further action or recommendations with the farmer
• talk to the farmer about doing an endemic disease follow-up

What documentation you need to give the farmer

When you have completed the review, the farmer will ask you to give them:

• a written report
• a vet summary

Written report

It should include:

• laboratory test results if required
• advice or suggested health and welfare actions
• other findings, for example biosecurity recommendations and medicine usage
• actions to address issues from the follow-up – this is likely to be 2 to 3 but can be more or less based on individual needs
• information about other concerns the farmer raised

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will not ask to see the report.

Vet summary

The summary gives the information the farmer needs to make a claim. The RPA may ask to see the summary as evidence the review place. It should be a separate document. 

We suggest you use our vet summary templates for cattle testing. If you choose to use your own summary template to give to the farmer, it must include:

• the agreement number
• the name of the business where the review took place
• the single business identifier (SBI)
• the species the farmer chose for the review
• the date of the vet’s last visit to the farm for the review
• the date samples were taken
• confirmation the farmer had the minimum number of animals required on the date of the review
• the laboratory unique reference number (URN) for the test results
• the test results
• confirmation the vet gave the farmer a written report
• the vet’s name
• the vet’s signature and date – the signature can be digital or on paper
• the vet’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) number

If a blood (serum) antibody test was done, the summary must also include the number of animals samples were taken from.