Veterinary surgeons and students from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) are heading to Wales to establish a farm health investigation service for vets and farmers in the South Wales region.

The RVC is working in collaboration with the Coleg Sir Gar (Carmarthenshire College), Welsh Assembly Government, the University of Aberystwyth and the Veterinary Laboratory Agency to set up the Welsh Regional Veterinary Centre (WRVC).

This project will also allow the RVC’s final year students (BVetMed) to gain invaluable experience with cattle herds and sheep flocks. Although students are able to experience working with cattle and sheep at the college’s campus in Hertfordshire, they do not always get the chance to work with larger herds as the number of livestock is decreasing in this part of the UK. The average size of commercial cattle herds and sheep flocks has been growing over recent years, making it increasingly important for students to gain the essential skills needed for the diagnosis and management of problems in population health and production medicine.

“The Royal Veterinary College is leading this project largely to give students essential experience of preventative planning for improving health and production on farms, but we also hope that this service will be of use to the local vets and farmers,’ said Steven van Winden, lecturer in production animal medicine at the Royal Veterinary College. ‘We will be working with the farmers’ own vets to identify problems that might impair the health, welfare or productivity of animals in the herds or flocks. We hope that farmers and vets in the area will start to use our service and that they will consider us as an extra pair of hands.”

Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Dr Christianne Glossop said: "This service should become a real asset for the industry in Wales. Farmers can take advantage of the input of highly skilled veterinary academics complemented by the energy and enthusiasm of veterinary students while the experience will contribute to a continued high standard of training for the profession; it's a mutually beneficial arrangement."