The FIELD project kicked off at the beginning of September in sunny Newcastle. As well as the research team, our network of collaborators joined the meeting to here about the research proposed over the next four years, provide some invaluable insights from their everyday roles, and keep the team grounded as to what would be realistic to achieve.

Following a round of introductions, the day consisted of several lively discussions focused around the two case study diseases of the project, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) and lameness. The team took these as an opportunity to quiz the collaborators about their knowledge of the diseases, their experiences of controlling them, and the day to day challenges of implementing recommended control plans.

The day finished with a reflection of the research that lies ahead, and how we can use the project to help others to better understand farmers behaviours and perspectives. We as a team also found ourselves reflecting on how fortunate we are to have such an engaged network stakeholders to work with!