Improve Animal Health and Welfare: funded vet visits for cattle, pigs and sheep

Overview

Improve Animal Health and Welfare (IAHW) pays for a vet of your choice to visit your farm in England and look at the health and welfare of your cattle, pigs or sheep. It is part of Defra's Animal Health and Welfare Pathway and is run by the Rural Payments Agency. The visit is advice and testing, not an inspection. There are two kinds of funded visit. An animal health and welfare review tests for endemic disease (cattle and pigs) or checks how well wormers are working (sheep), and the vet advises on welfare and productivity. After a review you can choose an endemic disease follow-up, with more in-depth testing and a biosecurity assessment on the same herd or flock. For visits from 22 January 2026, GOV.UK lists these payments. Reviews: beef cattle £647, dairy cattle £447, sheep £574, pigs £648. Follow-ups: pigs £1,087, sheep £658, beef cattle £954 with a persistently infected (PI) hunt or £258 without, dairy cattle £1,844 with a PI hunt or £258 without. The Defra Farming blog says you need at least 11 cattle, 21 sheep or 51 pigs. Under one agreement you can have up to 3 reviews and up to 3 follow-ups across one or more of the eligible species. Follow-ups must be within 10 months of the review and at least 10 months apart. The service ends on 19 June 2027, so all visits must be done by then, and claims must be in by 19 September 2027. Most importantly, apply for your IAHW agreement before any visit, testing or sampling. Work done before the agreement is in place is not funded. Applying online takes about 5 minutes. If you are a vet yourself, another vet must do the visit. Official source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/farmers-how-to-apply-for-funding-to-improve-animal-health-and-welfare. Last checked by GrantMatch on 14 October 2026.