Title: general manager.

Company: Bimeda Ireland.

Manufacturing sites: eight.

Locations: Canada, US (2), Ireland, Wales, France, Brazil and China.

What does Bimeda do?

Bimeda is an Irish manufacturer of animal health products and veterinary pharmaceuticals. Founded 50 years ago, Bimeda has grown through acquisition and organic growth to become the world’s 18th-largest animal health company, with sales in more than 75 markets around the world. The company operates eight manufacturing sites in Ontario (Canada), Minnesota and California (US), Dublin, Denbigh (Wales), Dardilly (France), Sao Paolo (Brazil) and China.

What is the mood among Irish farmers this year?

2018 was a torturous year for farmers, with poor fodder and bad weather in February/March, which resulted in high sales of antibiotics and scour remedies as herd health came under pressure.

It’s the complete opposite this year with better weather and better forage helping farmers. Dairy is doing OK, but beef and lamb prices are poor and these are important sectors for Bimeda.

How is the animal health industry evolving?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has rightly been identified as an important issue and regulations are changing as a result.

Europe usually moves first in terms of introducing new regulations for animal health and was quick to act on AMR.

However, AMR is now a global issue. For years in the US, poultry were blanket-treated with water-soluble antibiotics via their feed.

However, since January 2017, the US has changed its laws on water-soluble antibiotic usage and banned blanket treatment. Farmers now need veterinary prescriptions for antibiotics.

The big trend over the next 10 years in the global animal health industry is going to be reducing antibiotic usage and improved animal nutrition will play a big role in this.

How will these changes affect how vets interact with farmers?

As we see a reduction in the use of antibiotics and an increase in preventative health measures, vets’ roles are evolving and we are seeing vets increasingly become consultants to farmers.

Vets are working with farmers to develop herd health plans and we are seeing a greater focus on identifying disease or parasite problems on farm, metabolic issues, a nutrition focus and biosecurity.

How does Ireland rank for animal health?

Ireland is in the top five of the premier league for disease control. Irish farmers have all the big contagious diseases under control such as IBR and BVD.

Demand for antibiotics is going down but there’s an increasing demand for nutrition-related products.

We’re seeing sales of antibiotics fall because farmers are vaccinating now for disease prevention.

Farmers are smarter and are hoovering up knowledge all the time, while vets are coming to us with more queries on mineral nutrition and metabolic issues.