It's a packed episode of The AG Show this week. We're giving a shout-out to GB Calf Week, the industry-wide campaign shining a spotlight on the latest thinking and fresh ideas in youngstock care.

We'll also be tackling one of farming's biggest talking points right now - bovine TB. It's back in the spotlight following the latest series of Clarkson's Farm, so we'll dig into what's being said and what it means for the industry.

Elsewhere, we explore why sustainability sits at the heart of the newly launched Beef and Lamb Environmental Roadmap and hear why rehydrating grain before it leaves the farm might not be the best move.

And finally, we catch up with young farmer Will Sercombe, fresh from the incredible challenge of running the length of the UK in less than three weeks.

Plenty to get stuck into, so what are you waiting for? Go and press play....

SOME USEFUL BITS (FROM AHDB & BEYOND)

GB Calf Week | AHDB

The Beef and Lamb Environmental Roadmap | AHDB

Length of the UK run

Bovine tuberculosis | AHDB

Support for farmers | AHDB

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Charlotte, I've got to ask, do I look a bit gammon this week?

I couldn't possibly comment, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did see a plate next to you with a pineapple on it.

Yeah, I feel quite red. I think the sun's caught me.

Yeah, I certainly got caught at Groundswell last week and, yeah, that's why I'm in the office today making use of the air con.

We certainly caught the sun at Groundswell last week and yeah, didn't get any complaints about the sticker we left behind on the the Groundswell Hollywood esque letters.

Have you been stickering?

We have. It's not littering, it's stickering because it then doesn't end up just wafting around in the countryside, it's stuck to something.

Is this going to be like where I see partisan supporters of sports teams putting stickers on road signs? Are you going to start doing that?

Yeah. Next time you go to the Aston Villa toilets, not only will I stick up a Coventry City sticker, but there'll be an ag show sticker under that.

Once we've got suppl because we ran out, we didn't bring enough. We didn't realize we were going to meet and swapsy with so many people, did we, Charlotte?

No, everyone wanted a sticker.

Hi, I'm Phil Maiden.

And I'm Charlotte Forkes-Rees. Welcome to The AG Show.

In this episode, we'll be talking GB Calf Week, a cross industry campaign that brings together the latest research and new ideas in young stock care.

When I was a farm vet, we had a saying that in order to have progress, you had to measure it, manage it and monitor it. So it's really about having events where farmers can learn about measuring data in their young stock sheds and fields in really practical ways.

We'll also hear about the Beef and lamb environmental roadmap.

We've got some important advice for farmers who've got very dry grain and we'll.

Find out why one young farmer has recently run the length of the country.

It was sort of proof to people that farmers just take the punches and you still have to get to where you need to get to. At the end of the day, you've still got jobs to do and you know how hard they work and the lack of recognition they get.

A reminder, new episodes of the Ag show drop every Wednesday at midday. Available wherever you get your podcasts with.

Audio and video versions for every show. Just subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode.

And please do get in touch. Cause we'd love to hear from you, Comment on any of our social posts or email agshowdb.org.uk.

Let's kick off this episode with a look at GB Calf Week, which is underway and runs until next week, Wednesday.

This cross industry campaign brings together the latest research, practical ideas and expert advice to help farmers give every calf the best possible start.

Joining us today are a couple of AHDB specialists on this subject, Animal health and welfare scientist Halcyon Hayward and Sarah Tomlinson, who's AHDB's lead veterinary science expertise. So, Hal, we'll start with you and let's start with the basics. So for anyone discovering it for the first time, what exactly is GB Calf Week?

And it's a way for them to put on events and webinars for farmers so that they can learn about these topics too.

And you have a theme each year, and this year's is Smarter starts making data driven decisions about every calf. So what does that mean in practical terms on farm?

So when I was a farm vet, we had a saying that in order to have progress, you had to measure it, manage it and monitor it.

So it's really about having events where farmers can learn about measuring data in their young stock sheds and fields in really practical ways and also, also using that information so that they can track progress and identify changes that would help them on their farms.

And where are you seeing examples of farmers using data particularly well to improve calf welfare?

So there are some brilliant new tech solutions in the market, things like sensors and shed monitors, but even low tech ways can be really great opportunities to use data.

So for example, measuring and recording birth weights of calves and then again pre and post weaning can provide a real wealth of information about how those calves are performing in the system.

What are some of the biggest challenges that farmers still face when it comes to rearing healthy, productive calves?

Time and finding the time to make changes is something which is a really big challenge that I think a lot of farm teams would agree with. And when you've got an issue, finding the time to approach it and identify the root causes can feel like it's too difficult to do.

But actually that can really be the time that you figure out what a different approach could do and help to relieve some of that burden. So we know that making a difference in a calf's management starts well before they're born.

So those breeding management choices and that cow's nutrition, as well as the environment they're born in, all have an impact. So taking some time to think these things through can really help.

And if a farmer listening wanted to make one improvement tomorrow that could have a lasting impact, what would that be?

It can be really overwhelming trying to change a lot of things at once, and I think Calf Week events will really help to highlight that.

Using data can help you prioritise those issues and just focus on one area, set yourself some targets, what you're going to measure it and how, and then go from there.

All of that, it really sounds like, and it's a real common theme that we have with a lot of the guests coming on data is power. The more you know, the more you know.

It almost sounds counterproductive that you need to take time to look into these things when you're really time poor. But it really does help in the long run, doesn't it?

It does sometimes, if you make a few minutes or even half an hour to sit down and spot what the real issues are, you save yourself so much time in the long run.

And that's when it's also really worth just talking to other people around you too, isn't it? You know, you might be dealing with your vets quite regularly.

You know, it could be other farmers that you're friendly with, just having a chat and just finding out how other people are doing. It can be really valuable too.

Definitely. And getting an outside perspective can sometimes really help. So if you've got an issue, sometimes it feels like you can't do anything.

And just having a chat with someone else, they might have an idea that could really kick things off.

And usually they're really simple ones, is what I find. You talk to someone else and they're like, oh, why did I not think of doing that?

So, yeah, get out there and talk to people is what I take from that, too. Now, Sarah, you've been waiting very patiently, but this next question is going to be for you.

If you take us back right to the beginning again, what really prompted the development of the calf strategy and why was that needed?

Our calf strategy, which Hal said was a dairy calf strategy, had a really, really specific issue, I guess, that farmers and the industry wanted to tackle, which was the euthanasia of dairy bull calves. It was a big sort of expose.

It was a reputational risk to the industry, so they Came together and owned it and said, right, let's find some of the solutions.

And actually, we have eliminated routine euthanasia of dairy bull calves and that's predominantly been through the increase in use of female sex semen in the dairy industry. We just don't see dairy bull born. I think it's 69% reduction in dairy bull calf registration, so we just don't have them on farm.

But that meant that beef semen was being used on the rest of the dairy herd.

So we've seen a 74% increase in dairy beef, which is great for our domestic beef production because it, it fills part of that, that market, reducing the need for imports. But we bought the industry back together and said, right, do we need to carry on with the GB Calf strategy?

And actually it was potentially the beef sector that felt that it was needed more than the dairy sector because the welfare and even the environmental impact of rearing beef was the now the reputational kind of risk that the industry wanted to show. We were tackling and improving all the time. We came together and sort of developed this, rearing every calf with care and a purpose.

And it's every calf, it's not just dairy beef, it's suckled beef.

And the purpose is, you know, if you're breeding for replacements, whether, whether that's in the dairy herd or the beef herd, or whether you're breeding them for the beef supply chain, they are all bred with that purpose in mind.

And the GB calf week is all about maximizing that productivity, improving welfare and reducing that environmental impact that those supply chains have.

And I suppose that then just really highlights how important it is to have that collaborative approach to this. It's not just one sector in isolation that's having to deal with it. And this strategy can really help with bringing together different organisations.

Yeah, and I think the other thing is quite often farmers, I was a farm vet as well, for a long time. Farmers feel that all of the pressure is on them to change, whereas actually this isn't.

This is about bringing together the industry across all of those supply chains, vets, farmers, researchers, scientists, processors, retailers, to support the farmers, to be able to make those changes, whether that's through financial reward, helping them with the tools like the data, like Halsa said, the genetics information, to be able to, to make those decisions easy at a farm level.

Thanks both. It's been incredibly interesting hearing all about that so far. And we'll be hearing more about GB Calf Week later in the show.

The record temperatures accelerating harvest across much of the country. Growers are facing a new challenge. Hopping hot dry conditions are quietly reducing grain weight through low moisture levels.

And some are asking whether rehydrating grain before it leaves the farm could help recover some of those losses. We're here to set the record straight.

We can understand why this may seem an attractive option, but we need to look carefully at the associated risks. In cereals, food safety risks increase when moisture levels are above 14.5%.

Introducing moisture can trigger germination, which is something we need to avoid until the intended timing. Even a few germinated grains in a load can reduce the hagberg falling number to an unacceptable level.

And pre germination in malting barley is easily identified at intake. Both things will cause the load to be rejected.

It's important to remember that grain leaving the farm won't be at the end of its storage period and these issues will still impact the whole supply chain. But when grain is stored below 13% moisture, it effectively prevents mites breeding, mould formation and the resulting mycotoxin presence.

So while re wetting may appear attractive, the potential gains are usually outweighed by the risks of quality losses and load rejection. The safest approach remains straightforward. Follow best practice for grain storage and check out our grain guides for more information.

Thanks there from our very own Beck Hurstman. And this is something actually a huge have noticed. Farmers are quite wary about the implications of having dry grain.

In fact, I noticed someone combining early the other morning because they're combining to try and get out there in the field while there's still some moisture in the grain. So it is quite a significant issue, I'd say. And it's something also that we in the AHDB press office have been having a few inquiries about.

So it feels like this has been an issue that's been dotted around the country. So if it's something that's affecting affecting you, please take heed of bec's advice.

Absolutely.

And something that is also probably affecting you, what we get to call you, because I launched this, what, two, three weeks ago, suggested that aggers should be what we call ag show listeners. But Charlotte, you've had another suggestion, haven't you?

Yes, I had one of our listeners reach out because they understood where I was coming from, that agars wasn't probably quite the term that they were looking for. So their suggestion was the agmob or ag mobbers.

I'm wondering, is there something we can do with a play on agronomists? But I haven't quite worked it out yet.

Let's Start with Ag and then just put a grr after it and you've got an agga. That's it. That's your playing. Agronomists. Moving on. Should we do proper news now?

I want, by the way, Sharda, I want name and contact details of this person just so I can put them off listening.

The whole point is they're meant to listen. We should be listening to our listeners. Martin. Yeah, we need more ideas. That's what I'm getting out of this. We need some more ideas.

I've chucked it out there. Is there a play on Agronomist? I can't think of anything because all I've come up with is a show at Mist and that's awful.

So if anyone can help us at the moment. If I was going to vote, I'd give Charlotte the lead.

Whatever. Just get on with the news. Then between us, Charlotte, you can kick.

Off throwing all his toys out the pram. But it's only a quick one from me this week. And it's just to say that nominations are now open for the prestigious David Black Award.

Now, the award has been recognizing outstanding contributions to the British pig industry for more than 60 years and celebrates individuals or organizations that have made a lasting impact on the sector.

So if you know someone who's gone above and beyond for the British pig sector, now's the time to put their name forward. To nominate, you can head across to the AHDB website and search for the David Black Award and I'll also make sure that it's linked in our show notes.

And talking about someone who's gone above and beyond, I've recently caught up with a young farmer who's just run the entire length of the uk. That's right. You heard that right. The entire length of the UK in 17 days. That's 870 miles in three weeks.

And I work that out on a calculator because I'm not very good at maths. That's about 50 miles a day of running.

Wow.

In this weather too.

Incredible.

Will Serkham, Congratulations and thank you for joining me. AG show. Just tell us why. John O Groats to Land's End.

I realised I wanted to do something because I've just finished uni, started my job in a few weeks. I had this time, so I thought I could maybe do one more challenge.

And there's just something appealing about the adventure of running the length of the uk.

How did you cope with it? How did you get your body to get you through it?

Something I'm probably still asking myself. So I've run a lot the last few years and sort of been building up training wise. I did 100k week, then just added 20k all the way to 200k.

So I'd got a few miles in the bank but not quite the same as what I was going for in this, these two weeks. I've always believed that you can do more than you think you can and it was very much I was just going to try and do it as fast as I could, like Mum.

I remember when we got there, Mum was like, oh, why don't you just try and do it in like three weeks, a month? And I was like, because imagine I could do it in like 18 days, 17 days. And so that was always the aim.

Just push myself as far as possible to see what I could do and try and sort of find the limit, so to speak. I had a few blisters along the way. I always knew that was going to happen, but we managed to manage them.

Had an issue with my left knee, it's sort of just very swollen. That was about the fourth day.

It was a point that I was even scared to like stop to take a quick toilet break because if I stopped for so long my knees would just seize up and it wouldn't be able to get going again. So that day I just tried to keep on moving and moving until I got to the 50 miles.

And obviously we've talked a bit about the physicality of this challenge but also psychologically you needed some motivation and just explain a little bit about why you did this challenge and what it was that was motivating you for those 850 odd miles.

The whole reason I was there was because of my dad. Two years ago he got diagnosed with stomach cancer and unfortunately after about 14 weeks he passed away. And it was because of that.

I just thought running's always been a good way for me to cope with things and process. So it was a positive double edged sword. It's all what tell people. And so I could help process it and then try and do it good for some other people.

So that's the aim, try and raise a money for other families, try and prevent them from going through the same thing.

And your dad was a farmer, so he was well known in the farming community. So I'm guessing you would have had quite a lot of support coming from the farming community while you're on your challenge.

Yeah.

So he was. He was the chairman of the NFU Livestock Board for about six years and had roles in various places.

So I think relatively quite well known in the farming community. But also it was to try and recognize farmers a bit.

Not at the time, but since I'm very glad the weather was the way it was because it was sort of proof to people that farmers just. You take the punches and you still have to get to where you need to get to. At the end of the day, you've still got jobs to do.

You know, how hard they work and the lack of recognition they get. There was a part of that trying to show that. So, yeah, and the brilliant thing with the farming community.

So when we started getting to England, we started getting in contact with a few of our friends and they knew people along the route that we were staying at, so we were able to stay there with our camper van and they'd give us, you know, water, electricity, whatever needed. Some of them, like, washed our clothes, you know, really did just help out. And it was just.

It was just like a really sweet moment, really, each time, obviously very much struggling. But there was just that nice little note to it all, that farming is a great community. And that's why I definitely need them.

And family too, because you had family supporting you along the way, didn't you?

Yes, family is crucial. So my poor mum, she joined me. The whole way along she drove, so we hired a campervan. She did a very, very good job, so keeping me fed and watered.

And her friend, a good friend, Caroline, also joined. I could not have done it without them too old meals, like I say, as soon as the day was done, I didn't hardly move.

So they'd bring me water and drinks and food and completely looked after me. Absolutely crucial. And also my family and friends are very, very good.

The amount of people I had coming to, like, join for the day and run further than they ever have before or come on the bike, it was really nice. And that's what, again, started to make it a bit more manageable, sort of having that extra support.

Was there any moment that you particularly remember from it, any kind of milestones or little kind of memories that you'll. You'll always cherish from it?

Yeah, there's quite a few. It's funny because a lot happened, but not a lot happened, almost because I just was running every day. A certain low was. Yeah, definitely.

I think the lowest was Definitely end of day three. So I'd really struggled that afternoon with really struggling to get up to where I wanted to.

I think after day was finished, I took about five steps and just didn't have a shower, just laying in bed, just. Just really thinking I could see it in my mum's eyes. That was the problem. It was like I. I could see in my mum's eyes she was.

Knew that I was, you know, not in the best way, just sort of sat in bed sweating, struggling to move in quite a lot of pain. How I got up that the fourth day and carried on running, I don't know. I'd have to blame dad for that one. But that was a lows.

But then some of the highs. Leaving Scotland very much really enjoyed that. So that was the start of the eighth day and had some friends and family join that day.

So that was very nice because Scotland was very. Yeah, very hard, very lonely.

And probably the second best moment bar finishing was going across the Severn Bridge, going into Bristol because I went to uni at Bath, so I knew, obviously I knew roughly where in the country I was along the way. But when I got to Bristol, I was like. I really knew that I was sort of getting there and like the finish line was in sight. So that was.

That was a nice moment and just.

To finish on this bit. But have you if you got any message to your mom, if she's listening, because sounds like she might deserve a little bit of credit.

She deserves a lot of credit. I've always said my parents were always the best, but I think my mum is one of the kindest people I never know.

She always does things selflessly and she does never get the recognition because again, it's something like this that some people think it's more about me, but it's all about everyone around me that supported me to help to make it happen. And no one did anymore or does any more for me than my mum, so a lot of the credit has to go to her. Definitely.

Sticking with the news, if you've spent any time in the livestock sector recently, you'll know there's a growing focus on sustainability and reducing environmental impact. But for many farmers, the big question is, what does that actually mean on farm?

We're joined by our technical Head of Environment, Rachel Madeley Davies, to talk about the Beef and Lamb Environmental Roadmap, which was released this week. So we're going to find out what it is, why it's important and what it means for farmers in practice. Rachel, welcome back to the show.

Thank You. Thanks for having me back. Not banned or something.

We had you in winter last time, now we've got the heat of summer. So let's start off with the basics then.

Rachel, what are actually is this environmental roadmap and why did we feel that now was the right time to launch it for beef and lam?

Great question. So actually this isn't the first edition, this is the second iteration.

So we launched the first version a year last, sort of February time, and that was almost setting out our stall sort of where we're at. What do we need to do? A bit of a sort of a stock take really in terms of both sectors.

But what we've done now is we've convened an amazing collaborative, cross industry stakeholder sort of technical group, you know, and this does cover both England and Wales.

So it really demonstrates great collaboration, particularly from our processing sector, who obviously, you know, they work across the border, they don't see, you know, sort of devolution.

And we've had technical experts and we've really sort of sort of drilled down into terms of where we really need to be focusing on at the moment in terms of our sort of journey for improved sort of environmental sustainability across both the beef and lamb sectors.

What would be some of the main environmental challenges that this roadmap is trying to address?

Yeah, so although this is a roadmap now, I think we're really clear props in what the road map covers, but also what it doesn't cover.

I think it's really key that we don't shove everything into one document because we all know that our livestock farms, you know, have so much to give.

You know, there's so much, you know, in terms of the environment, you know, the fact that we've got interlinkages with, you know, improved biodiversity on our castle farms or in terms of how we manage water on them. There's loads of things we could have talked about, but actually we have to really sort of narrow it down and start somewhere.

So this particular sort of iteration, the roadmap, focuses on carbon, although we do acknowledge the broader sort of environmental impact. But we really start to focus on actions that farmers can take to decarbonise their farms that actually are the cost neutral or cost negative.

So it's almost like the low hanging fruit. So I think it's a really important step in terms of perhaps again identifying where we're at with these actions.

But actually, therefore, what are the gaps but also what are the opportunities going forward?

I like how you just summed that up, getting the low Hanging fruit, the things that in theory are easy to do because as soon as you probably say to someone, oh, here's an environmental roadmap, everyone's going to think, oh my goodness, this is going to be really technical, this is going to be really difficult. It's so formal, it's going to be really prescriptive.

But actually I'm guessing this is then going to be taking into consideration how different people are farming, that there are different challenges for beef, for lamb. And what might you then suggest from this very technical roadmap?

What, you know, a key action might be, or a couple of the key actions that people could be doing on their farm.

It's worth everyone remembered that this has been completely evidence based. So we've used data here. We haven't plucked things out of thin air or thought what we quite like to do. It's all about evidence.

And what does the evidence tell us? And therefore how do we know what works naturally, what works for our farms?

And that's really key in terms of actually how we actually get that change at farm level. So I think my view is always that all these actions, it's a bit like a jigsaw puzzle or a pick and mix almost.

So, for example, we look at nutrition, we look at animal health, we look at genetics and breeding. You know, for some farms actually they're already where they need to be in terms of genetics and breeding or in terms of nutrition.

But actually they might feel that they want to dial up a little bit more around soil health, so they might want to improve their ph or perhaps reduce compaction.

So for us it's about farmers really taking the information and then applying it to their own farm, their own situation and actually what suits their system.

Rachel, this roadmap, how does it balance environmental goals with the other key things, farm profitability and food production?

It goes without saying, you know, that these, all these actions, because they tend to be the low hanging fruit, that actually they're cost neutral, the cost negative.

And it does start to overlay, you know, the, the correlation between being more productive from an environmental sustainability perspective, so you're more efficient in that way, and actually the fact that actually it correlates with making your business more productive. And also, I think you'd also want to introduce at the same time the fact that, you know, we've Just had a very robust 25 year farming roadmap.

It's a vision and actually we need to make sure that we're demonstrating that as well for our long term license to operate, which is underpinned in terms of economic and environmental or sustainability. So it does it in a sort of an indirect and a direct way, if that makes sense.

How will what the roadmap's trying to deliver actually be implemented? Is it encouraging farmers to read it or is there anything more that we'll see being done?

I think this is a vital question. This isn't AHGB's roadmap, this is industry.

So it's all of us throughout the supply chain, from farmers like me to retailers, all of us, basically this belongs to us. So I see that actually different parties and different stakeholders can use this in different ways.

So there are perhaps farming organizations or farmers themselves that can actually get some ideas in terms of what might work here.

But also I think it's a really useful document to demonstrate that A, as an industry we're collaborating, we work together across the whole value chain. But B, you know, we're owning this space, we're doing something about it.

You know, we've already been, we're demonstrating our improvements to date, but we're also demonstrating what we can do as well.

So I think it therefore has two roles in terms of what we can do on farm to improve, but also still demonstrating to those perhaps policymakers, governments, consumers, that actually we're already doing some great space, but actually we can do a bit more as well.

And I'm going to finish on the classic question now, Rachel. What does success look like? How are we going to measure it?

Success looks like a year from now that we're having conversations, whether they're in Westminster, whether they're at Groundswell, whether they're at the Royal Welsh, wherever they are. People are referring to the beef and lamb environmental roadmap like it's the Holy Grail, like it's our bible.

Because I said, oh, actually hang on, we've already, you know, in our roadmap it demonstrates we're doing X, Y and Z.

So I think for us it's people really start to see it as a trusted value document for wherever you stand in the supply chain, whether you're a farmer, processor, retailer or an allied industry, that you can be really sort of, you can utilize it and you can trust it.

Thank you so much, Rachel, for taking us through the roadmap.

And if any of our listeners would like to find out some more, head across to the AHDB website and you'll find all the details on there and I'll make sure that it is also linked in our show notes. Your you're listening to the AG show, new episodes dropping every Wednesday at midday.

But right now let's return to the first topic of this show, GB Calf Week, which is in full swing right now. Hal, Sarah, thank you so much for staying on.

Now, Hal, coming back to you very quickly, I think one of the really important things that we have within this week is all the activities that we've got going on. Are you able to help our listeners find out a little bit more about what we might have in store during the week?

You can find out what events are happening near you on our website. If you search for GB Calf Week, some of the highlights include webinars and events run by vets and some organisations.

We're going to be at the Royal Welsh show and Carl, friend of the show, has got two sessions in Carlisle on the 21st of July where he's going to be with some really brilliant speakers going through antibiotics in calves and how to prevent disease and keep them healthy.

I have to say, any listeners, if you get the chance to go to any of Carl's events, they are always worth attending. They're so informative and he makes them go through in such a way that are so enjoyable to listen to.

So, top tip from Charlotte, go to one of Carl's events, even if it is all the way up in Carlisle, which is a little bit of a trek. Now, Sarah, one of the aims is to improve outcomes right through the supply chain.

How does this better calf management really contribute to producing things such as consistent beef for consumers?

Yeah.

So again, when we brought everybody back together, you know, one of the. The outcomes was promotion of GB beef and people wanting that consistent product so people go back and buy a steak the next week.

It was felt that actually through, through the genetics, through, I suppose getting a consistent way of measuring and monitoring that throughout the supply chain would lead to that in the end.

And also, so it was that consumer confidence like I spoke about, about, you know, them being confident that they were really eating some of the highest welfare, lowest environmental impact beef to keep promoting that British beef trademark and that we could keep that domestic supply with increasing, I suppose, the outputs from the beef sector by minimizing losses, you know, longer periods before slaughter, all added to that promotion of that, that good British beef that was consistent and repeatable and I.

Suppose that kind of feeds back, doesn't it? So in my day job. We're looking all about what the consumer wants and knowing that, you know, meat can be quite an expensive part of their diet.

When you think about what's on a plate, making sure that the value that they're getting from that spend is good and it's what they're looking for is really important. So have you found that the different advances with obviously using things like seximen, has that helped speed things up?

One of the things that we're trying to do as hdb, leading on the right calf pillar of the strategy, is to look at the genetics of dairy beef and how we can help the dairy farmers who are ultimately the start. They are beef farmers, they're the start of that beef supply chain.

So it's that mindset shift that even though they might be selecting that beef semen for easy carving, short gestation, because it's the dairy, the milking cow that they're interested in, that actually, how do we help support, incentivize them to make a good decision on that beef semen to ensure that the next part of that supply chain is profitable, viable, sustainable all the way through. So that is. That's that. Yeah, that's been. So I suppose the tricky bit is helping dairy farmers understand that they are beef farmers and they're.

That they're the beginning of it and ensuring throughout that supply chain everybody is rewarded because ultimately we have to have profitable businesses, don't we, in order to do all the things that we. You need them to do.

Definitely. It always surprises me, I suppose surprises is probably the wrong word, how many different hats farmers have to wear.

So even when they're just thinking about, oh, I'm a dairy farmer, I'm a beef farmer, they have to know a little bit about veterinary, they have to know all about finances. Now you're saying that actually a dairy farmer has to think they're a beef farmer too, so just add another hat into that ring.

But actually, more and more, with the current milk prices the way they are, actually dairy farmers are looking at that, that beef part of their business because it is contributing to the turnover and potentially overall profits at the moment. So it's worth them engaging and looking at it.

Yeah, once again, it's not looking at anything in isolation, it's looking at the whole enterprise and everything it can offer, isn't it? Now, I suppose that leads me into another aspect where it is thinking about that whole system.

And I'm sure many of our listeners will have seen recent discussions around bovine TB following Clarkson's farm and Obviously quite how vocal he can be on the topic. That is something that our farmers are having to consider, isn't it, within their systems.

Do you think you could talk us through any common misconceptions or misunderstandings about TB that you felt might need a little bit more context?

Yeah.

So I guess the question he and Charlie Ireland sort of posed at the end of this current series was when his TB skin test IR went for slaughter, it didn't have tb. And it's the use of language. And what I do really value that Jeremy Clarkson showed on the program was the impact that TB has on farmers.

It's emotional, it's upsetting. We are slaughtering otherwise fit and healthy animals and Absolutely, I get that.

I suppose what I really want people to understand is that TB is just another infectious disease. I know it's not because it is government sort of tell us how to manage it, not vets and farmers working together.

But the key message from that is that the animal, the test that that animal went through showed that that animal was infected with tb, Then what happens is they go to slaughter. And it's not a post mortem, an autopsy, as we imagine kind of everything being going through with a fine tooth comb.

It is just a process on that slaughter line to have a brief, quick look to see if there's gross big lesions for tb. And what the results in that letter said was we didn't find those really obvious signs of TB disease.

And if you remember back to those awful days with COVID and we had to test before we went anywhere, you could do the test, you were fit and healthy, had no symptoms of COVID you weren't diseased with COVID but the tests showed you were infected. And so you managed what you did to stop the risk of that spread of infection.

And that's what we're trying to do with tb, is stop that animal being able to spread it to the rest of Clarkson's herd, but also potentially being sold on and spreading it to another herd.

So as painful as it is when farmers do lose those animals and it is a massive impact on the business, we do have legislation about how we manage tb, because it is a notifiable disease.

Because actually, if you go back through history, it was a big killer of humans in the UK and actually globally, is still one of the biggest infectious disease, respiratory diseases, that is killing humans.

And that's why we have a global policy, I guess, through the World Organization for Animal Health, that every country that wants to trade has to follow certain rules. So as hard as it is, you know, some. Some of it, we don't have a lot of choice. And I think that's where it impacts the farm businesses.

We don't choose when we test, we don't choose what happens to those animals, which is what we do with vets and farmers all the time for other infectious diseases. So the clear message is, is, yes, that animal was infected with tb.

The good news was it wasn't heavily infected enough to be diseased and shouldn't have been a big risk to the rest of his her.

So if we can get that message out, that is, I think, is really powerful because sometimes farmers do feel, quite rightly, quite disgruntled that we might be killing the wrong animals. And I just want to reassure them that we're not and that we are doing this because we want to manage tb.

And I think the point I really took from that as well is it's thinking about it from that almost global scale. It's a small part, but within a much wider system, isn't it?

And I think what he did highlight as well, which is really powerful for me, having been a vet, and for anybody going out and talking to farmers on farm, is that farmers aren't dealing with TB breakdowns in isolation. In the same episode, he talked about his prostate cancer diagnosis.

And often farmers are dealing with all sorts of other crap on their farm at the time. And that TB can just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. And there's a lot of poor mental wellbeing that goes around that.

And I think that is everybody's role, is to support those farmers. If they hear that they're due a test or they're just being shut down with tb, you know, how can I help you? What can I do to support you?

Because it affects people, not just the businesses.

So check in on each other and I'll make sure that we have some links to some mental health support linked in our show Notes. Now, Hal's already briefly touched on it, but any top tips for where people can go to find out a little bit more about GB Calf Week?

So head to the HDB website and search GB Calf Week and you'll find the full list of events there.

Sarah Howell, thank you both so much making your ag show debuts on this episode. We'd love to have you back again, but thank you so much.

Thank you, thank you.

I don't want to keep banging on about it, guys, but you know the name of somebody who listens to the Ag show, I just want to tell you that There is an Article 27 of the AG Show Code, so if needs be, I can go to that without anybody else having a say. So just to let you know, if you.

Is this one that you've recently made up? Was there an article 26 or even an article 1 and you just haven't told us about any of these before, Martin?

No, I just think you can get anything done if there's an Article 27 in whatever arena you're in, whether it's out show football.

In next week's episode, we'll be testing Martin on the rules and regulations of the out show. I don't think you're going to WinMart because this is the first time I've heard of an article existing in any set of rules.

Okay, well, I'll see. It's still open for debate. Ag show hdb.org.uk for name suggestions for listeners and for content as well. Whatever you want to want to listen to.

So whatever we call you, it is your show and we'd love to make sure that we are getting the subjects that you want to hear under the microscope.

I don't know about you, Charlotte, but I'm going to beg our listeners now to get in touch with some other suggestions. What do you think?

Yes, please. But that is now all we've got time for this week. We've loved having you with us.

Do get in contact agshowdb.org UK or on any of our socials with suggestions. Names, please.

Yes, please. Get in touch, please.

Otherwise we'll see you next week.

Catch you then.