Inspections for Quality Assurance and other Department of Agriculture schemes are now part of farming the same as farm jobs like vaccination of calves or cleaning out sheds, and deserve to receive the same level of commitment.
Farmers can sometimes over-think and over-complicate a system which is best kept simple. A real onus of the Bord Bia Quality Assurance (QA) inspection is on keeping accurate, up-to-date medical records with this being one of the biggest reasons farmers struggle during an inspection. While many farmers lambast the detail with which medicines must be recorded for the QA scheme, it is actually to comply with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) regulations that such detailed records must be kept.
As farm incomes continue to struggle, ensuring that you receive 100% of your BPS payment rests solely with the farmer. This is the only stable, guaranteed source of income that farmers receive throughout the year so protecting it should be top of every farmer’s priorities with as much effort put into keeping accurate records as managing your livestock.
Keeping up-to-date medical records should not be done once a year in anticipation of an inspection and will be more accurate and less time consuming if updated on a weekly basis. While this may seem like a big task, once a routine is established it becomes part of the everyday work on the farm, reducing stress associated with inspections.
Filling in records once a year the night before an inspection will only lead to errors and increase the chances of some remedy administrations being forgotten about which could ultimately lead to avoidable penalties being applied to your BPS.
What do you need to record?
Every farmer is required to keep records of all animal remedies that are coming on to the farm, as well as a record of all animal remedies administered. Farmers are also required to keep a record of all unused/out of date veterinary medicines which are returned.
The record of all medicines coming onto the farm must include:
The quantity.Authorised name of the remedy.Date of receipt.Name and address of supplier.In the case of prescription-only medicines, the prescription will suffice as the incoming record. It is good practice to have some sort of filing system to keep receipts and prescriptions safe and secure. This does not have to be a laborious task and something as simple as having one drawer in the house that is used to keep all receipts will suffice. While a more detailed filing system would be recommended, keeping everything in the one place is a good foundation to start with. It is especially important that all prescriptions are kept as these are examined in the case of an inspection.
When it comes to animal remedies that are administered, a higher level of detail is required to comply with department regulations. These include:
Date of administration.Name and quantity of animal remedy administered.Identity of animal or group of animals treated.Date of expiry of withdrawal period.Name of the person who administered the remedy.Name of the prescribing veterinary practitioner (if applicable).Quantities of unused or expired animal remedies which were returned.One thing farmers may not be aware of is the requirement to keep these records for five years from the administration of the remedy as they may be requested in the case of an inspection.
Where do I record this information?
Many farmers will choose to keep these records in hardcopy format (written in a notebook) which is encouraged, but there is no requirement to keep records in this format. Records may be maintained electronically as long as they contain all of the relevant information outlined above. The records must be maintained in a secure manner and should be easily accessible in the case of an inspection. Farmers are encouraged to regularly back up records if they are being stored electronically.
Alternatively, the use of the Bord Bia quality assurance book is a popular option among many farmers with its user-friendly layout ensuring farmers are not forgetting any information required. Any other form of recording animal remedy purchase and usage is also allowed as long as it has all the required information.
Inspections and penalties
One per cent of all BPS applicants will be inspected in relation to cross compliance, with no notice given in advance of these inspections. While this might not seem like a large number, it is still over 1,300 farmers. Cross compliance is where farmers will get inspected in relation to animal welfare and health records among other things.
Penalties applicable to breaches in relation to requirements for animal remedies can vary from 1% to 5% of a farmer’s SPS payment. This level of penalties can only occur if the farmer is deemed to have been negligent and the penalty that gets applied depends on the extent, severity and the permanence of the breach. If a repeated breach is found then the penalty can be higher.
If the breaches are believed to be intentional then then the penalties can be much higher, ranging from 15% to the total payment depending on the seriousness of the non-compliance.
Withdrawal periods
A potential red flag during inspections is in relation to withdrawal periods for both milk and meat and this is something that farmers must be aware of. It is vital that before administrating any remedy that withdrawal periods are closely looked at. This way, the end date of the withdrawal period can be predicted to ensure it does not overlap with when cattle are due to go for slaughter, for example.
During inspections, this is one of the areas that will be heavily examined so it pays to spend an extra minute predicting when withdrawal periods will end before administrating any animal remedies. Special care should be taken when using products such as Ivomec Super as it has a withdrawal period of 66 days.
Having a notebook close to hand, whether kept at the livestock shed or in the form of an electronic notepad on your phone, is good practice. It should be used to quickly record what animals you are treating, what you are treating them with and the date. If this is done shortly after administrating the remedies it means you are not relying on memory to fill in your records later that week. It is vital, however, that these records are transferred at least once a week to your recording system of choice. If this is not done regularly and the notepad/phone gets damaged you will be relying on memory which could lead to errors and subsequently penalties on your BPS.
Keeping up-to-date medical records should not be done once a year in anticipation of an inspection and will be more accurate and less time consuming if updated on a weekly basis.Every farmer is required to keep records of all animal remedies that are coming on to the farm, as well as a record of all animal remedies administered.Records may be maintained electronically as long as they contain all of the relevant information.Penalties applicable to breaches in relation to requirements for animal remedies can vary from 1% to 5% of a farmer’s BPS payment.
Inspections for Quality Assurance and other Department of Agriculture schemes are now part of farming the same as farm jobs like vaccination of calves or cleaning out sheds, and deserve to receive the same level of commitment.
Farmers can sometimes over-think and over-complicate a system which is best kept simple. A real onus of the Bord Bia Quality Assurance (QA) inspection is on keeping accurate, up-to-date medical records with this being one of the biggest reasons farmers struggle during an inspection. While many farmers lambast the detail with which medicines must be recorded for the QA scheme, it is actually to comply with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) regulations that such detailed records must be kept.
As farm incomes continue to struggle, ensuring that you receive 100% of your BPS payment rests solely with the farmer. This is the only stable, guaranteed source of income that farmers receive throughout the year so protecting it should be top of every farmer’s priorities with as much effort put into keeping accurate records as managing your livestock.
Keeping up-to-date medical records should not be done once a year in anticipation of an inspection and will be more accurate and less time consuming if updated on a weekly basis. While this may seem like a big task, once a routine is established it becomes part of the everyday work on the farm, reducing stress associated with inspections.
Filling in records once a year the night before an inspection will only lead to errors and increase the chances of some remedy administrations being forgotten about which could ultimately lead to avoidable penalties being applied to your BPS.
What do you need to record?
Every farmer is required to keep records of all animal remedies that are coming on to the farm, as well as a record of all animal remedies administered. Farmers are also required to keep a record of all unused/out of date veterinary medicines which are returned.
The record of all medicines coming onto the farm must include:
The quantity.Authorised name of the remedy.Date of receipt.Name and address of supplier.In the case of prescription-only medicines, the prescription will suffice as the incoming record. It is good practice to have some sort of filing system to keep receipts and prescriptions safe and secure. This does not have to be a laborious task and something as simple as having one drawer in the house that is used to keep all receipts will suffice. While a more detailed filing system would be recommended, keeping everything in the one place is a good foundation to start with. It is especially important that all prescriptions are kept as these are examined in the case of an inspection.
When it comes to animal remedies that are administered, a higher level of detail is required to comply with department regulations. These include:
Date of administration.Name and quantity of animal remedy administered.Identity of animal or group of animals treated.Date of expiry of withdrawal period.Name of the person who administered the remedy.Name of the prescribing veterinary practitioner (if applicable).Quantities of unused or expired animal remedies which were returned.One thing farmers may not be aware of is the requirement to keep these records for five years from the administration of the remedy as they may be requested in the case of an inspection.
Where do I record this information?
Many farmers will choose to keep these records in hardcopy format (written in a notebook) which is encouraged, but there is no requirement to keep records in this format. Records may be maintained electronically as long as they contain all of the relevant information outlined above. The records must be maintained in a secure manner and should be easily accessible in the case of an inspection. Farmers are encouraged to regularly back up records if they are being stored electronically.
Alternatively, the use of the Bord Bia quality assurance book is a popular option among many farmers with its user-friendly layout ensuring farmers are not forgetting any information required. Any other form of recording animal remedy purchase and usage is also allowed as long as it has all the required information.
Inspections and penalties
One per cent of all BPS applicants will be inspected in relation to cross compliance, with no notice given in advance of these inspections. While this might not seem like a large number, it is still over 1,300 farmers. Cross compliance is where farmers will get inspected in relation to animal welfare and health records among other things.
Penalties applicable to breaches in relation to requirements for animal remedies can vary from 1% to 5% of a farmer’s SPS payment. This level of penalties can only occur if the farmer is deemed to have been negligent and the penalty that gets applied depends on the extent, severity and the permanence of the breach. If a repeated breach is found then the penalty can be higher.
If the breaches are believed to be intentional then then the penalties can be much higher, ranging from 15% to the total payment depending on the seriousness of the non-compliance.
Withdrawal periods
A potential red flag during inspections is in relation to withdrawal periods for both milk and meat and this is something that farmers must be aware of. It is vital that before administrating any remedy that withdrawal periods are closely looked at. This way, the end date of the withdrawal period can be predicted to ensure it does not overlap with when cattle are due to go for slaughter, for example.
During inspections, this is one of the areas that will be heavily examined so it pays to spend an extra minute predicting when withdrawal periods will end before administrating any animal remedies. Special care should be taken when using products such as Ivomec Super as it has a withdrawal period of 66 days.
Having a notebook close to hand, whether kept at the livestock shed or in the form of an electronic notepad on your phone, is good practice. It should be used to quickly record what animals you are treating, what you are treating them with and the date. If this is done shortly after administrating the remedies it means you are not relying on memory to fill in your records later that week. It is vital, however, that these records are transferred at least once a week to your recording system of choice. If this is not done regularly and the notepad/phone gets damaged you will be relying on memory which could lead to errors and subsequently penalties on your BPS.
Keeping up-to-date medical records should not be done once a year in anticipation of an inspection and will be more accurate and less time consuming if updated on a weekly basis.Every farmer is required to keep records of all animal remedies that are coming on to the farm, as well as a record of all animal remedies administered.Records may be maintained electronically as long as they contain all of the relevant information.Penalties applicable to breaches in relation to requirements for animal remedies can vary from 1% to 5% of a farmer’s BPS payment. 
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