The MacVet Podcast Dr Fiona MacGillivray MRCVS

Farmer and veterinarian Kat Hart believes you shouldn't let a lack of experience hold you back from trying something new. If it's something you are passionate about doing, then make a start and you can learn the skills along the way.



Kat is part of a team of farm vets working in England, where she specialises in young stock, having developed this role from scratch within the practice she's worked in since graduating in 2011.



In this episode, we discuss:

practical tips for vets worried about feeling confident when going onto a new farm,

looking for opportunities to build your unique offering to clients,

building and promoting the family beef and sheep farming business.



Listen in to discover Kat's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

David Main is a vet and professor of production animal health and welfare at the Royal Agricultural University, England.

His research interests lie in welfare education, the science and practice of knowledge exchange, animal welfare assessment and improvement strategies.

Like many, he began his veterinary career expecting to improve animal health and welfare by sharing his technical knowledge and expertise with clients. Soon recognising that this was not the most effective approach to take, he became increasingly interested in learning more about communication style in medical and veterinary interactions.



In this episode, we discuss:

how communication style will influence the uptake of veterinary advice,

using a 'what would a friend say?' approach in conversations dealing with difficult topics, such as terminal illness, to better connect with clients,

how use of positive language in programmes that aim to improve animal welfare, such as Health Feet, achieves better engagement with farmers.



Listen in to hear David's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!



Links from the episode:

BMJ article 'Communication in difficult situations: what would a friend say?' https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5037.full

Healthy Feet Programme https://ahdb.org.uk/healthy-feet

Heather Wildman loves helping people and businesses understand how they can get the most out of themselves. Using her own experiences working in different agribusinesses, she knows the importance of management style to build motivated and positive teams, and what happens when bad behaviour and poor attitudes are tolerated within a team.



Another facet of Heather's work is helping businesses and farming families with their succession planning, ensuring that businesses can continue to run smoothly once key people retire, move to another job or have died.



In this episode, we discuss:

facing up to the implications of Heather's recent accident, when she broke her back in two places,

how a desire to be more effective at knowledge transfer turned into a fascinating Nuffield scholarship project,

possible reasons for not discussing what happens after death within families, but the benefits of being honest and sharing what could happen to the farm and business in the future.



Listen in to hear Heather's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!



Links from the show:

http://www.saviourassociates.co.uk/

https://www.nuffieldscholar.org/

Rural geographer David Christian Rose recognises that farming can feel like a juggling act. In his role as Elizabeth Creak Chair in Sustainable Agri-Food Systems at Harper Adams University, David leads the 'Change in Agriculture' research group, whose objective is to help farmers and farming stakeholders navigate the changes being asked of them.



David has considerable experience communicating his views and research findings across many and varied platforms, including the mainstream media, farming press and as part of the debating team at Oxford University discussing the benefits of eating a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy.



In this episode, we discuss:

how the behaviour of people has an impact on our environment,

the importance of producing tangible outputs from research: make it meaningful and make it matter,

finding out what can help motivate people to change.



Listen in to hear David's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Kristen Reyher enjoys working with animals but ultimately became a veterinarian to help the people who’s lives depend on their animals. In her role as Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Population Health at Bristol Vet School, Kristen enjoys teaching the next generation of vet students and supporting her research team achieve success.


Kristen has a passion for data, describing herself as a 'mathlete'. She is also fascinated by human behaviour: what motivates people in their use of antimicrobials, and how vets can communicate more effectively about motivating change to manage endemic diseases such as mastitis and lameness.



In this episode, we discuss:


supporting others to achieve their goals and change the world with their ideas,
the importance of time management when working with large teams,
how Motivational Interviewing (MI) can help vets explore farmer motivations and then give advice in a more appropriate way.



Listen in to discover Kristen's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

In each episode of the podcast, I like to ask my guests about their favourite cow breed. On this occasion, I wanted to speak to someone who could tell me more about my own favourite dairy breed, the Ayrshire. My guest in this episode is Duncan Hunter, someone who has vast experience and understanding of this beautiful breed.



Over generations, Duncan and his family built up their prize-winning herd, the Haresfoot Ayrshires, which were in the top 1% in the UK for production for many years and won numerous awards with their high-quality milk and management standards. Duncan also held the role of breed manager for the Ayrshire Cattle Society of Great Britain and Ireland.



He now provides consultancy services in the dairy sector, and recently returned to provide support to the Ayrshire Cattle Society. This involves working across a wide range of activities, which include promoting the breed through novel communication channels.

 

In this episode, we discuss:

breed and personality traits of Ayrshire cows,

the benefits of introducing Ayrshires into dairy herds to improve sustainability,

embracing technology to enhance communication for internal and external audiences,

International Ayrshire Cow Day.



Listen in to hear Duncan’s thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!



Links from this episode:

Duncan's consultancy website https://hunterdairyconsulting.com/

Ayrshire Cattle Society of Great Britian and Ireland https://www.ayrshirescs.org/ayrshires-cattle-society/

Ayrshire YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AyrshireCattleSocietyOFFICIAL