Increased payments for vet visits 

Credit: Graham Higgins

From 22 January 2026, payments for both the animal health and welfare review and the endemic disease follow-up will increase. 

The increase reflects inflation and helps ensure farmers can continue to access high-quality support, while allowing vets enough time to provide a thorough and valuable service. 

Any eligible visit that takes place on or after this date will be paid at the higher rate. 

On average, the payments will increase by 16% across the species covered in the offer.

New payment rates 

Species Animal health and welfare review Endemic disease follow-up Current New Current New Pigs £557 £648 £923 £1,087 Sheep £436 £574 £639 £658 Beef Cattle £552 £647 £837 £954 Dairy Cattle £372 £447 £1,714 £1,844 Biosecurity (All Cattle) – £215 – £258

How to access payments  If you already have an agreement 

If you are an existing agreement holder, you do not need to do anything now. 

In January, once the increased payment rates are in place, the RPA will write to you with a variation to your agreement’s terms and conditions to reflect the new funding levels. 

If you do not yet have an agreement 

To receive funding, you must have at least 11 cattle, 21 sheep or 51 pigs. You must also apply for an Improve Animal Health and Welfare (IAHW) agreement. 

Make sure your agreement is approved and in place before you start any actions from your review or follow-up visit. Work carried out before your agreement begins will not be funded. 

You will need your Rural Payments service Customer Reference Number (CRN) and password to apply. 

The application usually takes around 5 minutes to complete. 

What to expect from an animal health and welfare review

During the review, a vet of your choice will assess health, welfare and farm conditions, including animal condition, housing, nutrition, water and handling. 

Your vet will: 

review disease risks and biosecurity, looking at how disease could enter or spread and how it is currently controlled.   carry out required disease testing by taking samples to check for specific endemic diseases, depending on your livestock type.  discuss medicine use and improvements, including reviewing antibiotics and medicines and agreeing priority actions for improvement. 

After the visit, you’ll receive: 

a written summary with clear recommendations.  a plan to manage disease and improve welfare.  a baseline to measure progress over time.  Endemic disease follow-up  

The endemic disease follow-up is another optional, funded visit that builds on your animal health and welfare review. It focuses on controlling specific diseases that affect your animals. 

During the visit, your vet will: 

review disease issues and test results, look at any ongoing health problems and discuss what the results show.  assess current disease controls and check how well existing measures are working and where improvements could be made.  agree a practical disease plan which sets out clear actions to reduce disease risk and improve animal health. 

After the visit, you’ll receive: 

a targeted disease control plan.  advice tailored to your system.  support to deliver long-term improvements. 

This visit helps make sure the changes from your review are working and delivering real benefits. 

Learn more

The RPA has created a series of short videos that explain how to claim funding for pigs, sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle,  and the endemic disease follow-up for cattle - just note that these reference the old payment rates.  

For the latest from the Farming and Countryside team, subscribe to the Farming blog. 

https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2025/12/17/increased-payments-for-vet-visits/

seen at 11:41, 17 December in Farming.