British Cattle Veterinary Association - BCVA

British Cattle Veterinary Association - BCVA The British Cattle Veterinary Association, established in 1967, is the cattle specialist division of the British Veterinary Association.

The association is involved with all aspects of cattle veterinary matters and is consulted by many organisations for informed opinion.

The Bluetongue Restricted Zone currently covering parts of south-west Scotland will be extended to cover the whole of Sc...
01/10/2026

The Bluetongue Restricted Zone currently covering parts of south-west Scotland will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland on Saturday 03 October. This is in response to further spread of the disease, the need to simplify trading conditions ahead of autumn movements and following agreement with industry.

Please see GOV.SCOT for more information.

The change means the movement licences currently required to move susceptible livestock, such as cattle, sheep and other ruminants, into, within and out of the south-west Scotland Restricted Zone will no longer be necessary, as the whole of Scotland will share the same disease status.

The APHA have indicated that this is expected to make trading considerably more straightforward for farmers, hauliers and auction markets ahead of the busy autumn trading period. Restrictions on the freezing of germinal products remain.

We are delighted to introduce the colleagues who are in the nominations to join BCVA Board. There is one place available...
29/09/2026

We are delighted to introduce the colleagues who are in the nominations to join BCVA Board. There is one place available this year. Voting will take place at our AGM during Congress. Members will be emailed full information along with the relevant forms. Deadline for voting in advance is 8 October - if you can't be at the AGM.

The Annual General Meeting of the BCVA will be held at the Telford International Centre on the 15th of October 2026 at 5.00pm to transact the following business:

1. To approve the 2025 income and expenditure account and balance sheet.

2. To approve 4% increase in membership subscription rates for 2027.

3. To approve recommendation of the Board for the following: Chair Junior Vice Chair Secretary Paul Burr Rose Jackson Rebecca Nelson

4. To elect 1 Board Members from the 4 nominations received

5. To confirm that the 2027 Annual General Meeting will be held in October 2027.

Members that are unable to attend the AGM may appoint a proxy. The Articles of Association and election rules can be found at https://www.bcva.org.uk/content/articles-association  

Members wishing to appoint a proxy should print, complete, sign and scan the proxy form, send documents by email to [email protected] no later than Thursday 8th October 2026 at 10am.

Board Member Rose Jackson at Notts FAVS talk tonight: talking about squiggly careers, how to conduct a calf health visit...
28/09/2026

Board Member Rose Jackson at Notts FAVS talk tonight: talking about squiggly careers, how to conduct a calf health visit and benefits of being a BCVA student member!

A word from your incoming BCVA President, Paul Burr ..."I think we have an exciting and varied programme this year. In p...
28/09/2026

A word from your incoming BCVA President, Paul Burr ...

"I think we have an exciting and varied programme this year. In particular, the venue at Telford allows us to bring practical sessions to Congress which are always very popular. We are having a serious look at Artificial Intelligence in the farm sector, we want to make sure our members have the opportunity to think about how they can use this in their working lives ... the message is that ignoring AI won't make it go away, and we as vets need to make sure we can use it to our advantage and that of the farms under our care."

We look forward to seeing you in Telford in a few weeks time.

https://www.bcva.org.uk/cpd/bcvacongress2026

Dr Reinaldo Fernandes Cooke is the Burkhart Endowed Professor for Beef Cattle Research in the Department of Animal Scien...
24/09/2026

Dr Reinaldo Fernandes Cooke is the Burkhart Endowed Professor for Beef Cattle Research in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University.

His keynote talk is at 11am on Friday - Research-based strategies to mitigate stress and improve production efficiency in beef cattle.

Along with his tour sessions, this will be the biggest focus on stress in cattle ever at Congress, the negative impact associated with it and ways to mitigate this in dairy cows, beef animals and calves - stress fast becoming the latest buzz word in animal health and management.

He is also running a discussion workshop on Saturday at 11am titled 'Global beef perspective - USA, Brazil and the UK' comparing and contrasting the US and Brazilian beef industries and challenges they face with the UK beef sector and will be joined by UK-based experts for that.

Book today and add your workshops at the same time.

https://www.bcva.org.uk/cpd/bcvacongress2026

Kindly sponsored by FerAppeaseUK

In three weeks we'll be in Telford, with BCVA Board waiting with an enthusiastic welcome for delegates, speakers, and ou...
24/09/2026

In three weeks we'll be in Telford, with BCVA Board waiting with an enthusiastic welcome for delegates, speakers, and our trade partners.

If you're already booked in …
Two things worth doing this week if you haven't already: pick your workshop sessions if you've not ticked them on your form yet, spaces are limited and going fast, and also get your evening social tickets sorted – Wednesday's welcome dinner, Thursday's Western night, Friday's Gala. You can’t leave it to pay on the door – we can’t accommodate that, and we'd hate for you to miss out on a seat at dinner because it slipped your mind.

Add your workshops and socials - https://www.bcva.org.uk/cpd/bcva-congress-2026-reg

 
If you haven't booked yet ...
No judgement, as farm vets we are famous for leaving things later than we mean to because there’s a lot that can get in the way - but registration closes on Friday 9 October at 5pm.

This is the one time a year our whole profession is under one roof, and this year's programme is one of the broadest we've put together, inspiring science, hands-on practical sessions, and a trade exhibition worth an afternoon on its own. Add in the socials and the chance to catch up with people who share your experiences and concerns – and get your jokes - and it's hard to think of a better use of three days.

Register: https://www.bcva.org.uk/cpd/bcva-congress-2026-reg

If you have any questions, please get in touch - email [email protected]

See you in Telford.

BCVA has raised specific concerns about biosecurity before, but they are increasingly hard to view in isolation. BTV-3 i...
22/09/2026

BCVA has raised specific concerns about biosecurity before, but they are increasingly hard to view in isolation. BTV-3 is stretching diagnostic capacity, and Government has introduced a vet-led clinical confirmation route to relieve the backlog. We support that pragmatic use of veterinary expertise, yet when a disease is this widespread, diagnostic anchoring can be a real risk, and BTV and FMD can look alike. Vets on farm must never feel pressured to "make the call on BTV" simply to keep cases moving through an overloaded system.

Our open letter also covers inconsistent border controls, particularly on the West Coast and Irish Sea routes, and the continued SAPO3 classification of BTV, which we believe is constraining diagnostic capacity and needs urgent review. We highlight workforce and specialist-expertise pressures, at vaccine and medicines preparedness, and at the imported-egg Salmonella outbreak and the newly emerging Shamonda-related viruses in Europe.

Ultimately, the open letter asks whether our diagnostic system has been stress-tested for a major FMD epidemic. If BTV can stretch it, we need to know now, not in the first days of the next emergency.

We are calling for a cross-government, four-nation National Biosecurity Strategy, and for biosecurity to be recognised as critical national infrastructure.

https://www.bcva.org.uk/content/national-biosecurity

Please read the letter, share it with colleagues and clients, and let us know your views. Email [email protected] with Biosecurity in the subject to help us direct the communications.

Your free member webinar for September is tonight ...Gain familiarity with the major genetic traits of relevance to beef...
22/09/2026

Your free member webinar for September is tonight ...

Gain familiarity with the major genetic traits of relevance to beef production.

Understand how, when, and why to test.

Gain confidence in advising clients on the use of these markers.

Get an introduction to commercially available genomic indices. 

Members don't need to register, we do that admin for you - just look for the Zoom link in your inbox.

Bluetongue (BTV) and Bull FertilityGuidance for farm vets on bull breeding examinations during the BTV risk period(With ...
21/09/2026

Bluetongue (BTV) and Bull Fertility

Guidance for farm vets on bull breeding examinations during the BTV risk period

(With thanks to the Sheep Veterinary Society and the associated guidelines on the examination of rams for breeding)

•    To achieve good conception rates within a compact breeding period, bull fertility must be optimal before he is turned out or used for AI.

•    BTV causes pyrexia and general illness that can suppress fertility, and evidence suggests it may also directly damage s***m production. In bulls previously infected with BTV-8, Müller et al. (2009) found a higher proportion of s***m defects than in uninfected bulls, and post-thaw semen motility remained impaired well beyond the point the bull was still PCR-positive.

•    BTV can be shed in semen from infected bulls, adding a further route of spread within a herd (Bowen and Howard, 1984). This is relevant to natural service and to semen collected for AI.

•    Spermatogenesis takes around 61 days in the bull (Staub and Johnson, 2018). Any insult during s***m production – such as pyrexia caused by BTV – can therefore suppress fertility for up to two months while he recovers.

•    Clinical signs of BTV in cattle can be vague, or infection may be entirely subclinical. A pre-breeding bull examination (‘bull MOT’) is the best way to confirm he is fit for purpose and avoid large losses across the breeding period.

•    BTV vaccines have not been formally tested for efficacy in bulls, but this is not unusual and is not expected to be a barrier to protection. Best practice is to vaccinate bulls ahead of the breeding period so full immunity is established before they are required for work.

•    Bull breeding examinations and electroejaculation should only be carried out by those trained and competent in the relevant techniques.

The full document has been sent via email to BCVA members and the PDF is available on our website.

https://tinyurl.com/3usu4m6v

You might be just starting out as a farm vet and want to broaden your skills, or perhaps you've plenty of experience in ...
21/09/2026

You might be just starting out as a farm vet and want to broaden your skills, or perhaps you've plenty of experience in the field, but want fresh inspiration and a chance to discover new innovation - either way there's something for you in Telford this October.

From dedicated streams on TB, infectious disease, calf health and AI in practice ... join us to give yourself a boost and load up on skills you can take straight back to the farm and practice.

Also - it isn’t just cattle – there’s some sheep and goat know-how to take away too.

BROWSE THE PROGRAMME AND REGISTER ON OUR WEBSITE ...

https://www.bcva.org.uk/cpd/bcvacongress2026

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Gloucester
GL22AP

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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