Farmers urged to get health checks at auction marts

The Livestock Auctioneers Association (LAA) said its growing network of ‘health hubs' offered producers the chance to speak to professionals about any concerns they have about their health.

"We want to give farmers the opportunity to get their health checked in a place they know and feel comfortable in." GP Rachel Ward, who works in a semi-rural practice in Didcot, Oxfordshire, said bringing healthcare services into farming communities and workplaces was a good initiative.