The understated role of the farm vet

Farm vets are involved in food safety and public health, yet this is not necessarily recognised by the public at large. There is a presumption that graduates will enter their veterinary careers through a small animal practice. This can be true, but not always. One of the first things a graduate vet entering the farming environment needs to understand is the vast difference between the two. Take medical bills for example. These are huge on a farm when treating a herd, and the interests of the many must take priority over the interests of the few.
The outbreak of a disease on a farm can result in the mass culling of livestock, which has a devastating impact on the farming community, and not just economically. At a time like that, it is the farm vets who are responsible for putting the livestock down in a humane way, but also as quickly as possible. It is those same farm vets who are tasked with working with those farmers at this economically difficult time when they are forced to lose a huge section of their livelihood. But to prevent the outbreak of disease in the first place, it is again the farm vet that brings together the bodies and resources required to progress productivity and keep the public safe, like the farmers themselves and their staff, researchers, food technicians and clinicians.
The vet is not just involved in the slaughtering of animals however, they are also involved with ensuring parasites and disease post death are not spread to humans via the food chain. Their expertise in pathology and parasites is required to ensure the public is not only kept safe, but is also confident that the food produced by our farmers is safe to eat, and hence we purchase from them, keeping the economy and the British farming industry ticking over nicely.