The RPA Podcast

The RPA Podcast - Episode 13

• RPA • Season 2 • Episode 13

Share episode

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of The RPA Podcast. In this episode we take an in depth look at two of the How to videos produced by RPA to provide farmers with helpful information about what to expect from an RPA field officer visit. 

These cover sheep and goat, and also cattle visits. We also look at what other RPA videos are available, designed to support farmers with advice on various topics. 

The RPA Podcast is an opportunity to engage with farmers and land managers in a new way, and we encourage you to reach out to us with suggestions of particular topics that you’d like us to cover with our subject experts. You can email us at External.Affairs@rpa.gov.uk.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates and information on the following accounts.

By following and subscribing to our social channels and blog, you’ll be able to see the latest updates about important information.

RPA launches new farm visit guidance series for farmers 

Intro

Caroline Ling: Hello and welcome to the thirteenth episode of The RPA Podcast. I’m Caroline Ling and in today’s episode we take an in depth look at two of the videos produced by RPA to provide farmers with helpful information about what to expect from a visit. These cover sheep and goat, and also cattle visits. We also look at what other RPA videos are available, designed to help farmers with advice on various topics. 

Fade to music ************************fade to music

Item 1: Sheep and goat visit video

Caroline: Earlier this year, RPA launched the first in a new series of videos, under the title ‘What to expect from an RPA farm visit'. This first one is designed to provide farmers with essential information about sheep and goat identification visits and how to effectively prepare for them. The video series is part of RPA's broader strategy to support farmers in meeting their regulatory obligations. Today we’re joined by the presenter Ben Hastings, who’s going to talk to us about the video and why it’s so useful to keepers. Welcome to the podcast Ben. 

Ben: Thanks Caroline. It’s a pleasure to be here. 

Caroline: So, Ben, before we start it’s worth mentioning to listeners that you can find a link to the video in the transcript or check out RPA’s YouTube channel, and it’s well worth watching. Right, so now we’ve got that out of the way, can you tell us more about the purpose behind the video?

Ben: I certainly can. The video is here to help keepers understand how the Rural Payments Agencycarry out Sheep and Goat visits, and hopefully this video will help you prepare and understand the aims of a visit and how you can meet the current regulatory requirements and deliver the best for your farm and animal health and welfare.  

All our livestock visits, whether they’re cattle, sheep or goats, are regulatory and the RPA has a legal duty to complete them. This means, for instance that we can only give a maximum of 48 hours’ notice before the start of the visit after a Field Officer makes initial contact with you and explains the full requirements of the visit. 

Caroline: Thanks Ben, that’s really useful, and can you tell us more about what the video covers?

Ben:  Yes, so, the video gives a basic insight into what the visit entails to help you prepare should you be selected for one in the future.  

The video looks at movement records and what you need to record and what movement licences you’ll need to produce – we complete a check based on the last 25 to 50 movements Off and On to the holding, or up to a maximum of 3 years’ worth of movements - whichever applies to your holding.

It’s worth mentioning that movements can be recorded in many ways, they can be in the flock register, a simple excel spreadsheet, on a 3rd party software package, or they can be reported and recorded on the Livestock Information system, as long as they follow the regulatory requirements and show the correct format. 

 We also understand movement records can be held with accountants or agents; however, you’re required to produce these within two days of the announcement of the visit.  

Caroline: That’s interesting to know, Ben, that a farmer can keep the information in different formats. So, on the video what do you use?

Ben: Throughout the video, I use the DEFRA flock register to explain all of the relevant sections that keepers should be completing, such as: 

  • Keeper Details section, so recording their full Name, Address, Holding number, flock number and the type of production.  
  • Replacement Tag section, recording all lost tag and replacement tag information. 
  • EID Identification and Birth section, for recording where all EID tags have been applied for all breeding and slaughter sheep.
  • The Death section, recording all dates of death, along with full electronic identification numbers for dead sheep.  

We also look at the Annual inventory totals which is a headcount of all categories of sheep and goats on your holding. This should be recorded in your flock register on the 1st of December each year. You’ll be notified by DEFRA in November each year to complete your annual inventory return form, which you must complete by 31st December that year. To do this you can use the online service or return your inventory form by post.

You must also record annual inventory totals in your flock register and produce this when asked and you must keep a separate register for each individual holding if you have more than one: 

Caroline: Thanks Ben. So, what can a keeper expect when a Field Officer turns up on a visit? 

Ben: On arrival at the farm, the Field Officer will introduce themselves and go through the procedure for the visit. If a keeper has any concerns, they feel the Field Officer should be made aware of at the start of the visit, then please always feel confident to explain them to the Field Officer.

 It’s important to note that all Field Officers will thoroughly disinfect when they arrive on the holding or at least before any contact is made with animals, and this procedure will be repeated when the Field Officer leaves the holding. The purpose of protective clothing and disinfecting is to prevent any disease been carried from farm to farm.

Caroline: Important to know, thanks Ben. And following the records checks the Field Officer will normally start with a Sample check?

Ben:  Yes, that’s right. Farmers will be required to present a random sample of 60 animals that’s a representative sample of the whole flock or herd if you have goats. If you have less than 60, all animals will be checked. 

But it’s important to add that the Field Officer will use a common-sense approach, so if you have animals that are heavily pregnant or have small lambs/kids at foot, where possible these will be excluded from the sample to avoid mismothering and injury. 

The sample batch of animals should be presented safely and be held in adequate handling facilities, and the Field Officer will read the EID tags with their EID reader. 

Should animals be found to be incorrectly identified or have a missing tag, the sample check will be extended and may include all animals on the holding.  

Caroline: Thanks Ben. So can you tell us more about the physical headcount. 

The Field Officer will also need to complete a headcount of all categories of sheep and goats on the holding. The keeper is required to show the Field Officer all parcels and buildings where sheep or goats are being kept. It’s a good tip to keep a record of what numbers are in each of your fields or buildings. Our Field Officers will record all the headcount totals to reconcile these with your records.

Caroline: Thanks Ben. And what happens once the Field Officer is satisfied with the sample check and the headcount? 

Ben: Once the Field Officer is satisfied with the sample they’ll check records and complete a 10% traceback, and this will require the farmer to show the Field Officer where they’ve recorded individual numbers. If they’re homebred animals, then ear tags should be recorded in the identification and birth section of your flock register or equivalent record book. 

If the sample contained bought in animals, then these would have to be traced back to the original On movement for that animal, so the Field Officer will then check On movement EID tag list for that movement.  

Caroline: And I believe the Field Officer will ask if they have use of any other holdings?

Ben: Yes, It’s useful to note that the Field Officer will ask the keeper if they have use of any other holdings, for example, TLAs, commons, or grazing land that animals under their keepership are on at the time of the visit. You must also get a county parish holding number for land and buildings used to keep livestock for any purpose, including those kept as pets.  

Caroline: And what happens when the visit is completed?

Ben:  Once the visit is completed, the Field Officer will discuss their findings with you and where necessary, will give you advice and guidance on how to correct any errors, so please do feel free to ask our Field Officer any questions and they’ll support you with any queries you may have. 

RPA will then send you a copy of the report form completed by the Field Officer, which will detail the whole visit, including any guidance provided. If there are no discrepancies on the report, you’ll just get a summary and the signposting tab. If discrepancies are found, you’ll get the complete report.

It’s also worth mentioning that we’ve made this videoto really be a helpful guide. The video should help you to be confident and ready for when you have your sheep and goat visit with us. And remember that Field Officers are there to help and give you support throughout the visit, so don’t wait for things to go wrong, always reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help. 

Caroline: Yes, Field Officers are very helpful. And just as we finish, I will mention again that listeners can find links to the video in the podcast transcript. So do please watch it. It’s a really good video. Brilliantly presented by Ben. That was great Ben. Thanks very much for your time and for talking to us today. 

 Ben:  It’s been a pleasure. Always here, always available should any keepers need any further advice, they can always reach out to myself as well.  

Fade to music ************************fade to music


Item 2: Cattle visit video script 

Caroline – So the next video in the series is about regulatory cattle visits. Today I’m joined by Field Officer Chris Birch who’s been filming that one and has taken time out to join us today in Windermere where filming is taking place.  Chris, thanks for joining us and taking time out to do so. I wonder if you can tell me what the cattle video is going to cover and I believe, just for listeners that you’ve been filming today and will be filming again tomorrow, so this is all very fresh, but you’ll hopefully have an idea of what the video is going to cover. 

Chris: What we’ve done so far is we’ve been filming some shots of the cattle and checking ear tags. The video is really about how a cattle keeper can prepare and get ready for a visit from the RPA to check ear tags and cattle passports and things. It is a regulatory visit, so we have to do these checks. 

Caroline: Perfect. So can you go into a bit more detail about what the video will cover, what sort of regulatory areas and how that will help farmers. 

Chris:  Yes. The video will cover the records check as Field Officers get a list of what BCMS think they’ve got on farm and it’s the Field Officer’s job to make sure that information is correct, and that helps with traceability and disease control and helping with international trade deals and that sort of thing, so what we have been doing today is going through records and showing how the Field Officer checks those and the information that they are supplied by keeper so we’ve gone through the record books on this farm and checked all the passports as well, so like a mock visit really. And then also we’ve been out reading ear tags as well as we have to read every ear tag of every animal on the farm. Which is fine if you’ve just got just 10 or 20 but if you have 2,000 3,000 or 4,000 it can take a bit longer but we still need to read every ear tag.   

Caroline: I can imagine. And you’ve been filming at a common farm in Windermere with farmer Amy and how’s that gone? 

Chris: So far so good. Amy’s been really good, really helpful and a big thank you to her and the National Trust who have been our hosts who have let us film their rare breed Albion cattle, which are very, very rare, so it’s been nice to just look at those as much as anything. I’m from a farming background so I’m as interested in those just as much as the job that I’m here to do.   

Caroline: And you’ve had good weather? Nice and sunny here today isn’t it?

Chris: Yes, the Lake District. Everyone says that it’s going to rain but it’s been almost too hot at times. Part of it we’ve been showing the biosecurity, showing that we have to disinfect on and off farm, and wearing the personal protective clothing, so it’s been a bit warm at times having the waterproof leggings and a waterproof jacket on. 

Caroline: Brilliant, and when’s the video due out? It’s due out in the Summer I believe?  

Chris:  I believe so, yes. So, if we get a good day filming tomorrow, hopefully they’ll be able to get it put together and then it should be out and available for people to watch.

Caroline: Perfect that’s really good, so thank you so much for taking the time out of that busy filming schedule to talk to the RPA Podcast and we look forward to seeing that video when it comes out, we’ll make sure we have a good link to it on the RPA blog. Thank you very much Chris. 

Chris: Thank you very much.  

Fade to music ************************fade to music


Item 3 Interview with Raidel Chao-Batlle 

Caroline: So, I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast that earlier in the year RPA had launched the first in a series of videos, under the title ‘What to expect from an RPA farm visit,' to support farmers in meeting their regulatory obligations. The first one, with Ben Hastings, is designed to provide farmers with essential information about sheep and goat identification visits and how to effectively prepare for them. We’ve also spoken to Chris Birch in this podcast, who presents the ‘what to expect from a cattle visit’ video, which should be released around the same time as this podcast goes out, so do look out for that one.

There are other RPA videos available too, designed to help farmers with advice on various topics. In the final interview for this podcast episode we’re joined by Raidel Chao-Battle of RPA who has worked tirelessly with Ben, Chris and the wonderful back up crew to get those two videos, as well as other videos published and those are the ones we want to make you aware of in this section. Welcome Raidel.

Raidel: It’s a pleasure to be here Caroline. We were very lucky when we did the filming for the cattle video in Windermere as the weather was beautiful and sunny and the farmer Amy was so helpful to us. 

Caroline: She certainly was Raidel. I really enjoyed joining you for that shoot. And it was great to be able to interview Chris for this podcast episode on site in Windermere too. Very exciting. So, I wanted to get you here today to talk about some of the other videos you’ve made that farmers may find helpful. Can you tell us about other ones?

Raidel: Yes, I most certainly can. It would be worth farmers checking out our RPA YouTube channel as we have been producing a series of how to videos with the help of farmers and a great team behind. In no particular order, we have available on Youtube: ‘What to expect from a sheep and goat visit from RPA’, ‘SFI 23 Guidance visit’, a glance at Integrated Pest Management with Mr Boaz, a big piece on ‘Hedgerows regulations’ and very soon we will release another video on ‘What to expect from a cattle visit’. 

I have to say that it has been a real treat working with farmers to produce these videos that have valuable information and advice so other farmers can watch them. For a long while now we have been working in partnership with farmers, and RPA is looking to provide more content to help farmers better understand schemes, grants and regulations. There are other channels that we’re using like the RPA Blog where we recently published blogs on ‘Getting the most from Herbal Leys within improved grassland systems’, ‘SFI Expanded Offer 2024, understanding the Annual Declaration’, Integrated pest management best practice and research and many others. 

Caroline: Thanks Raidel, that’s very useful. There are also other episodes of this podcast too that people might want to listen to. For the hedgerows video you mentioned, I interviewed Field Officer Pete Clampett who presents the video, for the previous podcast, so if anyone listening is interested in hedgerows, do check out the podcast as well as the video. So, Raidel, tell us a little more about the hedgerows video and what it covers?

Raidel: On the video Pete talks about the regulations and why they were introduced, which hedgerows the rules apply to, the rules that need to be considered under the management of hedgerows regulations; such as the cutting ban and the 2m buffer strip, as well as exceptions to the regulations and what the changes are to RPA enforcing the regulations that everyone with a hedgerow needs to be aware of. It also covers what a Farmer or Landowner can expect if they’ve been referred to the RPA for a hedgerow management visit, as well as where to find more information. 

Caroline: Brilliant. It’s well worth watching. So tell us a little bit more about the other videos that are worth checking out Raidel, and what else have you got in the pipeline?

Raidel: There is a video with farmer Jonathan Boaz on ‘What to expect from an SFI Guidance visit’ and another video with Mr Boaz where he talks about Integrated Pest Management. Both really helpful and interesting. 

Caroline: Yes, he and his wife were kind enough to host us at their farm in Worcestershire for filming. He was great, so enthusiastic and helpful, and fabulous cake courtesy of Mrs Boaz, I really feel I need to add here. So, people can find all these videos on the RPA YouTube channel, Raidel?

Raidel: Yes they can. There are also a lot of others on there too – I’m just looking at the RPA YouTube channel now; there are ones covering CTS online, helping people understand the benefits of using it and supporting you to get on it. There are videos on funding for an animal health and welfare review and there are also some interesting ones giving a glimpse inside the RPA, with interviews with key people from the RPA Customer department. The YouTube channel is well worth checking out. And we’re making new videos regularly because we know that ‘how to’ guides, and ‘what to expect from’ guides are very useful. 

Caroline: They are indeed, and we’re always looking to see what guidance we can get out to help farmers and land managers. Raidel, that was really helpful, thank you so much.I’ll put links to all the videos and the guidance into the transcript for this podcast. 

Raidel: Thanks Caroline. I think it’s probably worth giving a plug for the RPA Field Officers here. Their role is also to be a source of advice and guidance for farms, working with farmers and land managers to help them achieve the outcomes of their agreements and achieve regulatory compliance, by signposting to support, and also helping them consider what actions are needed where requirements haven’t been met.

Caroline: Yes, the RPA Field Officers are very helpful. 

Raidel: And also to mention, we are looking to get more video content to help and support farmers. So, if you have something that you would like us to unpick for you, get in touch with us and suggest some topics you would like us to tackle. Thank you for having me on the podcast Caroline, it’s been a pleasure.

Caroline: Thanks very much Raidel. 

So, that’s all we’ve got time for today. Thank you to Ben, Chris and Raidel, and thank you once again for listening. We’ll be back very soon with the next episode of the podcast to keep you updated on developments at the RPA. We’re always happy to receive your questions and suggestions. So, if you’d like us to cover a particular topic or issue with our subject experts, please get in touch. You can e-mail us at External.Affairs@rpa.gov.uk, or you can follow us on X - @Ruralpay - or follow the Rural Payments Agency on Facebook and on Instagram. Goodbye.

Links to all videos here: Rural Payments Agency - YouTube