Farmers' opinions are to be sought on animal health and veterinary care services as part of research commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The department has recently engaged the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to undertake research on ‘the Provision of Animal Health and Veterinary Care Services in Ireland’.

The research programme will comprise a series of projects and is overseen by a steering committee.

The committee is being led by Joe O’Flaherty, chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council and formerly of Animal Health Ireland (AHI).

DAFM

The first project is titled ‘Barriers to Preventative Herd Health Planning within the Dairy Sector in Ireland and Potential Levers for Change’.

The department said the study aims to better understand the challenges farmers face on animal health issues, such as calf health, mastitis, biosecurity and bovine tuberculosis (TB).

The research will examine what motivates farmers to manage such issues.

DAFM said that as part of this work, the ESRI will survey a sample of farmers over the coming weeks.

Survey invitations will be issued by SMS text message to farmers’ mobile phones, with a link to the ESRI’s online survey, which can be completed either via phone or laptop.

The department is asking all farmers to keep an eye out for the text message, as it is "an opportunity for farmers to give their perspective on a variety of animal health challenges".