All farmers across Northern Ireland are invited to join an expert led calf versus human health update tailored to farmers. An evening of food, comedy and most importantly practical advice is planned to ensure farmers are up to date with the latest advances in testing for calf scour and bowel cancer.
After dinner, Mr Adam Conn, veterinary surgeon at Riada Veterinary Clinic, Ballymoney will provide farmers with an update on calf health. Adam will outline the advantages of using the next generation of RAINBOW tests to quickly detect common pathogens including Rotavirus, Coronavirus, E. coli F5 (K99) and Cryptosporidium. After, MSD representatives will be on hand to offer information about how to maximise calf immunity and managing outbreaks when they do occur.
Often the same principles of ‘early detection early intervention’ apply when tackling a disease in any species. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Almost 44,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.
More than nine out of ten new cases (94%) are diagnosed in people over the age of 50. But bowel cancer can affect anyone of any age. On the night, representatives from Bowel Cancer UK and the local health service including the Farm Family Health Checks team will discuss the advantages of taking up bowel cancer screening promptly. Much like the on-farm RAINBOW tests, the quantitative faecal immunochemical test (qFIT) is a non-invasive screening tool designed to detect hidden blood in the stool. It can be done at home when you are offered it or if a GP recommends it. It can be an early indication of bowel or colorectal cancer. It is the only recommended screening test for Bowel Cancer in the UK and replaces the traditional faecal occult blood tests (FOBT), which had limitations in sensitivity and specificity.
Prevention is better than cure so to round off the night there will be an open Q&A session with the speakers and nutrition advisors David Dunlop and Richard Beattie from Chestnutt Animal Feeds. Local farmer and compere for the evening, Mr David Linton will be ‘talking dung’ to ensure a healthy balance of both education and entertainment.
This night has been supported by The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland through the Energia Long Mountain Community Benefit Fund. The event is hosted by members of the NI Agri-Rural Health Forum who will be on hand to answer any queries on broader topics and services related to wider health and safety and succession planning on farm.