18/02/2025: Scottish Government Announcement on Cattle EID

At the NFUS conference on Friday 7 February John Swinney MSP, First Minister announced that Scotland would introduce Ultra High Frequency (UHF) electronic identification (EID) for cattle.  During the subsequent question and answer session Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands confirmed that UHF EID would be introduced by the end of 2026.  A link to the First Ministers announcement is attached below:

https://www.gov.scot/news/new-deal-for-agriculture/

11/02/2025: Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS)

From 1 January 2025, calves will only be eligible for a SSBSS payment if:

  • their dam has a calving interval threshold of 410 days or less, or
  • if the calf is the first registered birth associated with that dam

The 410 day calving interval threshold will remain unchanged for the 2026 scheme year.

You can read more about the rules in these Frequently Asked Questions.

For the new SSBSS scheme condition on calving intervals, the calving interval will be calculated based on ScotEID birth registration data. All calf births must be registered on ScotEID within 27 days of birth in accordance with the cattle identification and traceability regulations. Unregistered calves will not be considered when establishing a calving interval for SSBSS.

The cattle identification and traceability regulatory requirements for registering a live calf that dies or a still born calf are:

02/12/2024: Sheep and Goat Annual Inventory 2024 - now open

The Sheep and Goat Annual Inventory for 2024 is now open and available for completion at www.scoteid.com/survey

Sheep and Goat keepers have been sent an email from the Animal Health and Welfare Disease Prevention Team within Scottish Government.

The SGAI is available to complete via the online survey only. More information is available in the guidance. The survey closes on the 30th January 2025, please ensure your Sheep and Goat Annual Inventory is completed by then.

Should you have any queries relating to the survey that are not connected to completing it, please email sheepandgoatinventory@gov.scot

Click here to read the Scottish Government official notice to complete the annual inventory.

30/10/2024: OPA (Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma) Pilot - Call For Further Sheep Producer Volunteers

At the request of the industry, the Scottish Government are providing financial support to the sheep industry to develop an OPA disease control programme and this pilot is now in its second year. The pilot has been developed by the industry-led Scottish OPA working group and it aims to increase the number of veterinary practitioners with proven expertise in recognising signs of OPA in live sheep through ultrasound scanning in the absence of any better diagnostic test.

One of the farmers recruited to the project hosts the YouTube channel ‘The Sheep Game’ and has made a video about OPA scanning while their vet was out scanning: WE HAVE OPA! (youtube.com). There is also a video about scanning produced by Moredun: Research in a Nutshell - OPA Control (youtube.com).

Sheep keepers will benefit through earlier diagnosis and interventions allowing for affected animals to be culled and removed from flocks at an earlier stage. Compensation payments are being made to farmers for the removal of animals which will be used for the collection of tissue samples for definitive diagnosis to validate the ultrasound scanning technique and for future studies such as development of a new live diagnostic test.

If you know of any farms that would be interested in being involved in the pilot project there are still some limited spaces available. If you are willing to participate in this pilot and have your flock scanned for OPA please contact Chris Cousens at the MRI (chris.cousens@moredun.ac.uk).

03/09/2024: Bluetongue critical industry webinar 4th of September

With the changing bluetongue situation, all farmers, vets and stakeholders are urged to join a critical industry BTV-3 webinar Wednesday 4 September from 3-4pm to get the latest updates and advice from experts. Register today via: https://bit.ly/3AJzxlq

Webinar Flyer

  • If suspicion of notifiable disease it is to be reported through the correct channels.
  • There are NO restrictions on vets attending farms where BTV3 is  confirmed/suspected. This is midge born virus. 
  • Treatment is important – recent article In practice by Fiona Lovatt, Rachael Tarlinton, Margit Groenevelt. LINK to the article 

Bluetongue situation is changing rapidly and More information on the current situation can be found here and on Bluetongue Virus – Ruminant Health & Welfare (ruminanthw.org.uk)