THE MONDAY BRIEFING

Farm Vet Network

The developments that matter to farm veterinary practice.

MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2026

Good morning,

England's bluetongue response now places more formal weight on private vets' clinical assessment, while Scotland has changed movement rules and Northern Ireland is commissioning local practices for bTB biosecurity work. This edition separates immediate operational changes from useful but early research.

Jake Davies, Editor

THIS WEEK'S LEAD   /   BLUETONGUE · ENGLAND

Private vets can now support clinical confirmation of clear bluetongue cases

From 11 September, a private vet who examines animals with clear signs of bluetongue in England can make the clinical diagnosis used for formal confirmation by APHA. A new online route also lets vets report suspect cases directly. Fewer straightforward cases should therefore have to wait for laboratory results.

The change is not a relaxation of notifiable-disease controls. If another notifiable disease, including foot-and-mouth disease, cannot be ruled out, normal reporting and laboratory testing continue. The official snapshot updated on 13 September records 1,132 UK BTV-3 premises since 1 July and 1,769 potential cases still under investigation in Great Britain; the latter are unresolved reports, not confirmed cases.

Why it matters: Examination, differential diagnosis, contemporaneous records and prompt reporting now have an even more immediate bearing on case confirmation. Practices need to use the new route without allowing familiarity with BTV-3 to weaken escalation of a possible foot-and-mouth differential.

Read the new vet-led approach →
Defra and APHA · 11 September 2026

Check the official outbreak snapshot →
Defra and APHA · updated 13 September 2026; data to midnight 12 September

WHAT ELSE MATTERS

02   /   BLUETONGUE MOVEMENTS · SCOTLAND

South-west restricted zone changes which animals need testing

South-west Scotland's Temporary Control Zone became a Restricted Zone on 10 September. Movements between restricted zones in Scotland, England and Wales now have no bluetongue controls. For moves into disease-free Scotland, breeding bulls and pregnant cattle need vaccination and PCR unless the stated Bultavo-3 exemptions apply; other cattle, sheep and goats do not need either. Separate testing applies to specified deer and camelid categories.

Why it matters: Certification advice now turns on destination, species, sex, pregnancy status, vaccine product and timing. Movements from Northern Ireland need the relevant DAERA export health certificate, while live ruminant movements to Northern Ireland remain prohibited.

Read the operative Scottish guidance →
Scottish Government · rules effective 10 September; guidance updated 12 September 2026

03   /   BOVINE TB · NORTHERN IRELAND

DAERA appoints local practices to deliver a new bTB biosecurity service

DAERA has appointed Veterinary Resources Northern Ireland, a consortium of about 45 practices, to provide tailored on-farm bTB risk assessments and advice. Around 700 farms a year are expected to take part for an initial two years, with a follow-up visit nine months after the first. Delivery is intended to begin by November.

Why it matters: This creates defined, funded work for participating practices and a new route for structured bTB planning. July surveillance provides the baseline, not an outcome: 12-month herd incidence was 9.62%, versus 10.84% in the preceding 13–24 months, and reactors fell from 20,509 to 19,070 between those periods.

Read the service announcement →
DAERA · 11 September 2026

See July bTB statistics →
DAERA · published 10 September 2026

04   /   SUCKLER FERTILITY · SCOTLAND

Scottish suckler calving interval reaches a ten-year low

SRUC's analysis of the first year of the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme's 410-day eligibility condition puts the 2025 average calving interval at 391 days, down from 403 in 2019. Some 9.7% of claimed calves did not meet the condition, although the authors say policy is only one influence and recording or claiming behaviour may explain part of the change.

Why it matters: Scottish suckler vets now have a current national benchmark for fertility reviews and can identify near-threshold cows for closer herd-level investigation, while keeping scheme eligibility separate from clinical assessment of reproductive performance.

Read SRUC's report summary →
SRUC · 8 September 2026

IN BRIEF

05   /   DAIRY LAMENESS · INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH

Routine parlour data showed changes before visible lameness

In 67 lame cows on one Italian herd, milk yield began falling 12–16 days before farmer detection, while lying time rose 8–11%. The result supports reviewing existing parlour and pedometer alerts, but the retrospective single-herd study does not establish a diagnostic threshold for UK herds.

Read the accepted manuscript →
Journal of Animal Science · 8 September 2026

06   /   BOVINE TB EVIDENCE · ENGLAND

APHA extends badger-control-area monitoring through 2025

New monitoring covers 73 areas licensed from 2013 to 2024, including areas one to four years post-cull. APHA explicitly says the descriptive cattle data do not demonstrate whether culling reduced bTB; surveillance changes and other factors must be considered when discussing local trends.

Open the APHA monitoring release →
APHA · 10 September 2026

07   /   MASTITIS · INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH

Global mastitis review argues against one-size-fits-all pathogen assumptions

A meta-analysis of 137 studies and 208,510 cows found major geographic and temporal variation, but heterogeneity was extreme (I² 98.1–99.6%). For UK practice, the useful message is to privilege herd and regional culture data; pooled global pathogen shares should not drive empirical prescribing.

Read the open-access meta-analysis →
Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology · 10 September 2026

What are you seeing in practice?

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