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Estimating farm‐level private expenditure on veterinary medical inputs in England
Author(s) -
Gilbert W.,
Rushton J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.101925
Subject(s) - welfare , investment (military) , agriculture , veterinary medicine , animal health , medicine , business , agricultural science , politics , geography , political science , archaeology , law , environmental science
The current re‐evaluation of responsibility and cost sharing between the public and private sectors with reference to animal health and welfare (AHW) would be improved by a greater understanding of the contributions made at farm level. This knowledge would facilitate the design of a cost‐sharing system which best balances technical, economic and political objectives. This paper presents a framework by which the farm‐level investment in AHW can be assessed. An evaluation of data available for the framework was made and, as a benchmark, an estimate of total expenditure on veterinary medical inputs for commercial agricultural holdings in England calculated. In 2010/2011 it is calculated that farmers on commercial holdings in England spent £230 million on veterinary medicines and fees, with an additional £160 million being spent for horses kept on non‐commercial holdings. By contrast, for 2012/2013, Defra budgeted £277 million on AHW. The results presented emphasise the critical importance of generating sufficient evidence to support the development of an efficient, equitable and sustainable AHW strategy.