Vets could be more proactive

Issues of animal welfare are becoming increasingly important as consumers demand to know how and where their food is produced.

With farming getting more intensive and debt levels rising, risk factors change in management, and some farmers will push animal welfare boundaries.

The veterinary profession needs to work with farmers on trying to reduce animal health costs, but not at the animals expense.

A good example of a partnership approach to reducing costs but maintaining good animal welfare standards, is seen in velvet removal, now approved for trained farmer operators.

Animal welfare issues and relaxed regulations around who can sell animal remedies were priority issues at a meeting between Ag Minister David Carter and top-of-the-south veterinarians in Blenheim on Wednesday. Mr Carter said the future of NZ primary producers lay with high-income customers who could afford to be fussy about animal welfare along with food safety and environmental responsibility.

 NZ would target  about 50 million of those consumers with its red meat, wine, seafood and other primary products and require confidence that animal products meet standards. If you don't believe consumers are worried about how animals were farmed rest assured that retailers are." If the merino industry had not moved against the mulesing of sheep, government would have stepped in, Mr Carter said.

Farmers had pushed the boundaries with stocking numbers. If those boundaries were stretched too far animals could become exposed to the effects of extreme weather, he said. Government would increase spending on animal welfare by $8.2m over the next four years and the farming sector must also play its part reports The Marlborough Express.

National Animal Welfare Advisory Council standards for layer hens and pigs were due this week and dairy standards were released earlier this year, including statements on minimising induction of calves, said Mr Carter. Vets might have to become more proactive in advising clients on animal welfare issues, he said. Good farmers relied on the veterinary profession for technology transfer "and I think the next quartile of farmers need to be encouraged to do the same".

The vets told Mr Carter they were concerned at government moves to deregulate animal compounds and veterinary medicines. Government had to find the balance between keeping control of medications which might be dangerous from a residues perspective and enabling commercial competition, he said. "We can't put in place controls shoring up the profit of veterinary practices."

Penicillins for example could now be used only under a veterinarian's guidance "but if a farmer has a bull with a sore foot they want to get in and treat it without the expense of calling their vet".  His main take-home message from the meeting was that rural vets' perspective was not getting through from the coalface to government: "Communication could be improved."