Again, it’s worth reminding famers that CHECS itself does not operate a licensed scheme. It currently certifies a number of providers of cattle health schemes, which offer good geographical coverage of the UK, Ireland and the Channel Isles.

Having health accreditation through a CHECS licensed scheme can increase productivity and reduce costs.

In a survey of health scheme members that CHECS ran in 2019, over half of producers first became aware of health certification schemes through their veterinary practice, while others were told about it by their breed societies, farming friends, or simply read about it.

Farmers often start with trying to manage one infectious disease like BVD and then move on to engage with other CHECS disease control programmes.