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Question: Challenges Facing Rural Farm Animal Veterinary Enterprises in the UK

Answer: Livestock production and associated services are central to the UK rural economy. Rural veterinary enterprises are important providers of animal health services to their farming clients. Most veterinary practices are small to medium rural enterprises, as are the majority of their farming clients. In recent years, concerns have been raised about the capacity of the veterinary profession to provide the services required by farmers and to implement government strategy on animal health (EFRACom, 2003). As many public animal health services are provided by private veterinary practices, the future availability of these services is linked to the economic viability of individual veterinary enterprises (Brown, 2004).
The UK veterinary business landscape traditionally consisted of independent practices owned and managed by veterinary surgeons, either as partnerships or as sole traders. Farm animal veterinary services are provided by farm animal specialist practices, which only treat farm animals, and by mixed practices, which also treat other species. Approximately one quarter of the veterinary practices registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) are listed as treating farm animal species, and the majority of these are located in rural areas (Robertson-Smith, Robinson, Hicks, Khambhaita, & Hayday, 2010). Within mixed practices, there may be separate teams for different species, or mixed practitioners treating all species (VDC, 2012). Only 2.9% of vets reported that their main area of employment was exclusively in farm animal practice, while 21.7% work mainly in mixed practice which may involve varying proportions of farm animal work (Robertson-Smith et al., 2010). Although many rural veterinary enterprises also provide companion animal services, this chapter will focus exclusively on veterinarians’ roles as service providers to the UK livestock industry. This area of research is important because the issues facing farm animal veterinary practice reflect many of the wider challenges currently facing other rural businesses providing professional services to the agricultural sector.
In this chapter we explore the current trends and main challenges facing veterinary enterprises in a changing rural business landscape. The methodological approach comprises a critical review of current academic literatures, as well as government reports and relevant media articles. The chapter describes the farm animal veterinary sector in the United Kingdom and the services provided to farmers, and reviews current trends and driving factors behind the changes occurring in the sector. Finally, we consider how the veterinary profession is adapting to these changes.

(Source: , 21 Sep 2021)

Source Link: https://doi-org.onlinedatabase.librarynet.com.my/10.1108/S2040-724620140000004006