Scanning update for 2022

Ultrasound scanning services in 2022

Over the last 6 months AHDB have been looking at ways to deliver the scanning service that will ensure continuity of service, value for money and guarantee national coverage. In this update we explain how the service will be delivered in the coming year.

Key messages

• Innovis to work with AHDB/Signet to support the delivery of ultrasound scanning services in England and Wales
• Scanning fees in England unchanged for the next 12 months, but fees for breeders in Wales are set to increase*
• The latest contact details for booking scanning visits are provided below

Background

In the late 80s levy funding was used to establish an ultrasound scanning service for sheep to measure muscle and backfat. While new levy-funded approaches to assess carcase attributes have followed, such as the use of CT scanning and the analysis of abattoir data via RamCompare, it remains an important component of genetic evaluations and one we know is valued by ram breeding clients and their customers.

In recent years, the service has become increasingly seasonal and harder to service using the relatively small team of trained Signet staff.

It is for this reason that from 1st March 2022, Signet will be partnering with Innovis in the provision of ultrasound scanning services to grow the service and provide greater support to Signet clients. Innovis have considerable experience in this area, last year alone they scanned over 33,000 lambs for Signet, the Welsh Hill Ram Scheme and Innovis breeding partners.

The new arrangements will see Innovis providing all of the scanning in Wales, as well as many of the counties along the English border with Wales, the South West and from the start of April the North of England, as Andrew Steele leaves Signet to spend more time on his own farming enterprises. Andrew has been a vital and valued part of the Signet team for many years and we wish him the very best for the future.

AHDB staff will continue to scan sheep and cattle throughout East Anglia, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South East; using the expertise of Stuart Friswell – as well as leading on the provision of training and accreditation.

In Scotland, two freelance technicians Willie Wilson and May Miller continue to service Scottish flocks. In Northern Ireland, Willie Tait provides a scanning service.

Scanning charges in 2022

Signet’s ultrasound scanning charges haven’t changed for over 12 years, as we sought to build the service. It has been recognised that the income obtained from scanning doesn’t fully cover the cost of service provision and in recent years the cost of providing the scanning service has been offset by other funds.

From March 1st 2022, Innovis will be charging their standard rate of £250 per visit (and £2.50 per lamb over 100 lambs, exclusive of VAT); which, having delivered the service for many years, we recognise still represents real value for money, particularly for larger flocks or breeders that are able to scan at a single location.

AHDB are in the process of undertaking a major review looking at how breeding improvement services are delivered to the industry and for this reason, for the next 12 months scanning fees will be held for Signet clients at their current rate (£175 per visit plus £1.75 per lamb, excluding VAT), with AHDB subsidising the difference. Recording and scanning fees will be reviewed again in 2023, after the “Shape the Future” vote has been completed, and the Beef and Lamb Sector Council has determined the priorities for levy expenditure and budgets are set accordingly.

Scanning charges in Wales and Scotland

Following the agreement on the redistribution of red meat levies between England, Wales and Scotland that came into place on 1st April 2021, AHDB levies cannot be used to directly support levy-payers / breeders in Wales and Scotland.

AHDB, QMS and HCC remain committed to supporting performance recording services, co-funding the costs associated with the data analysis undertaken at SRUC, CT scanning and RamCompare. However from this April any additional support for producers outside of England has to come directly from the levy organisations that work in these regions.

• In Wales, Signet clients will be asked to pay the new scanning fee in full.
• In Scotland, the situation is different. Signet clients are serviced by freelance technicians who operate independently of levy funded support and charge their clients accordingly.

Wherever your flock is based, when making an appointment remember to ask your technician how much scanning will cost this season.

How do I book a scanning visit?

The scanning team will be busier than ever in 2022, so please make contact with them in plenty of time to get your appointment booked. Contact details for the technician team are shown below.

Stuart Friswell

Telephone: 01327 260005
Mobile: 07813 369686
E-mail: [email protected]
Main regions

• Midlands – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Rutland, Staffordshire, Warwickshire
• East of England and Central England - Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, North Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire
• South East and Central Southern England – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Sussex, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight.

 

Innovis

Telephone 01970 828236

Email: [email protected]

Main regions

• Wales
• North West England – Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, West Yorkshire
• North East England - County Durham, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear
• West Midlands - Herefordshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire
• South West England – Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset

 

May Millar, Scotland

Mobile: 07590 199770
E-mail: [email protected]

• Scotland

 

Willie Tait, Northern Ireland
Mobile: 07833 968417

• Northern Ireland