The production-animal vet: a vehicle for change and improvement

For the farm sector, several of the last year's headlines have been dominated by political challenges and notifiable diseases (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2024; Ruminant Health & Welfare, 2024). The recent BTV-3 outbreak and its associated media coverage have shone a light upon the importance of the role of production-animal veterinary surgeons in all aspects of the livestock sector (from on-farm through to the halls of Westminster), and the importance of clear and effective communication – especially when communicating with the public and others without the ‘technical’ or scientific background, which we all share.

On a local level, having an effective vet-farmer relationship is vital to drive long-term change on our clients' farms by working with clients to understand their wants, needs and aims (Crowe and Oxtoby, 2019). However, it can also allow for more investigatory work, allowing opportunities to identify important conditions that have existed on UK farms for a long time, but often go underdiagnosed or unnoticed. One such condition is udder cleft dermatitis, and we welcome the review article in this edition as an opportunity to shine a light on a condition which is not always presented to the attending veterinarian but can have a significant impact on both animal welfare and productivity.