Herd Health Planning: A Key Tool for the Sustainability of Animal Production

At its general assembly in Iasi, Romania, on June 5 and 6, 2015, the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) unanimously adopted a strategic position statement on herd medicine. The goal is, in particular, to highlight the value of two-way communication between livestock producers and slaughterhouses to ensure that both producers and veterinarians receive regular feedback on information gathered from food chain inspections.   According to the FVE, the major challenge for the 21st-century agri-food industry is the adoption of disease prevention strategies to maintain healthy herds, improve animal welfare, and enhance farmers’ profitability. To help implement these herd health strategies, the veterinarian acts as a facilitator and educator, supporting behavioral change in livestock farming. In this context, communication and knowledge transfer are essential to the development of such a (r)evolution. The veterinarian thus acts as the team leader for farm management. At the end of the food chain, this approach leads to safer food and a more sustainable environment for consumers. Herd health planning is a continuous improvement method that aims to optimize animal health and animal welfare through systematic analysis of farm data and regular clinical examinations of the animals and their environment. At the farm level, it is a key mechanism for maintaining the sustainability of animal production, which has direct positive impacts on animal welfare and public health. Furthermore, it helps limit the environmental impact through best practices and can have a positive effect on the farmer’s income, or even open up new markets.  

Four Objectives and Planned Actions to Achieve Them

Thus, the herd health plan aims to:

• achieve an optimal level of animal health and animal welfare;
• provide high-quality, safe food produced sustainably and increase consumer confidence;
• prevent zoonoses and strengthen disease surveillance;
• ensure optimal farm profitability and reduce stress for livestock producers.

  Achieving these objectives requires the implementation of an action plan. This involves:

• understanding the financial implications of each health issue;
• identifying areas that require special attention;
• establishing performance indicators for herd health;
• monitor the impact of this performance;
• measuring the impact of clinical and subclinical disease outbreaks;
• quantify financial losses resulting from clinical and subclinical diseases;
• implement corrective measures.

  When disease incidence is measured against established and adopted standards, it is easier to intervene and plan those interventions. Similarly, knowing the amount of losses associated with a particular clinical or subclinical disease helps in taking direct action and immediately targeting resources to the most critical area of the operation. Furthermore, herd health planning reduces stress for farmers and promotes the smooth operation of their businesses. Ultimately, the document used to plan herd health must include the following elements:

• best practices in animal husbandry (housing, environmental parameters, water and feed management);
• appropriate biosecurity measures;
• best practices for the use of veterinary medicinal products and feed additives;
• good hygiene practices;
• a clinical and subclinical disease surveillance plan;
• a quarantine plan for new animals introduced to the farm;
• an infectious disease control plan, including isolation facilities and biosecurity measures, to prevent the spread of infections from one animal to another and from one farm to another;
• an emergency plan;
• a system for animal identification, including the recording of treated animals;
• a system for traceability of animal movements;
• health and welfare monitoring by the farmer;
• the prevention and monitoring of specific livestock diseases;
• a vaccination plan;
• parasite control and an antiparasitic treatment plan (including pets living on the farm);
• disposal of dead animals (in accordance with national and European legislation).

  Regular health visits should be included in the herd health plan and implemented based on existing health issues, the size of the herd, the animal species, and the risk of disease introduction or spread. Adequate financial resources must also be allocated for this purpose.  

Key points of the herd health plan

This checklist is not exhaustive and should be adapted to the specific needs of each farm.

• Record-keeping: documentation of feed rations, veterinary medicinal products and other treatments, the occurrence of diseases, the results of health and welfare observations made by farmers, the conclusions and implications of relevant analyses and reports prepared during inspections (of animals or products), particularly at the slaughterhouse. If new herd animal health issues arise, they must be described in detail, along with the measures implemented to address them and the follow-up conducted.
• Animal tracking: identification of animal species and category, the origin of the animals and/or semen, their respective identification numbers and movements, including the reasons for such movements.
• Animal identification and registration systems: compliance with national and EU legislation, as well as an additional system for recording treated animals.
• Biosecurity measures: recording the use of disinfectants (which one, where, when), use of special protective clothing (for visitors), disinfection of vehicles entering the farm (via a designated route), pest management and movement restrictions for domestic animals, quarantine measures, control of purchases of animals, raw materials, and equipment, as well as the disposal of carcasses and bedding, appropriate selection of sites for new buildings, maintenance of a visitor log, and provision of a designated parking area.
• Preventive measures: implementation of vaccination and deworming protocols, as well as other equivalent measures.
• Animal housing: consideration of climate, lighting, materials, and equipment that meet animal welfare criteria.
• Animal welfare: Adoption of appropriate standards for animal handling, housing (stocking density, enriched environment, etc.), and transport.
• Staff training: education on legislation regarding animal welfare, biosecurity, and hygiene.
• Food and water supply: monitoring of feed and its respective ingredients (suppliers), as well as water (source, storage, hygiene management).
• Health issues: recording fertility rates, body condition scores, foot care, the number of animals culled due to disease, the frequency of specific clinical conditions and their nature (bacterial, viral, parasitic, affected species, etc.), and farm performance (litter size, growth rate, milk production, somatic cell count, mortality).
• Treatments: monitoring of medication administration (with corresponding prescription log) and inventory, recording of antiparasitic treatments, routine treatments (feed additives), and non-routine treatments (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, etc.).
• Participation in trials, necropsies, or laboratory tests: implementation varies by animal species and region, in conjunction, where applicable, with serological analyses, nasal swabs, feed sampling, environmental testing, etc.