A new initiative aims to tackle difficult conversations about prostate cancer
A new healthcare initiative is aiming to build on the trusted relationship between a farmer and their vets to tackle difficult conversations about cancer.
Vet Your Prostate is currently recruiting and training veterinarians to raise awareness of prostate cancer risk among farmers, while offering at-home prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing kits that could lead to an earlier diagnosis, when survival rates are highest.
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Studies, including one by the National Institute of Health, have found that farmers have a higher risk of prostate cancer than the general male population. Despite this elevated risk, they remain one of the hardest groups for traditional healthcare to reach. Living and working in an environment that rarely stops, farmers often place their own health at the bottom of the priority list.
The 24/7 demands of the job, combined with isolation and unpredictable schedules, can make standard clinics feel out of touch with their realities. The result is a compounded challenge: a high risk population navigating a healthcare system that isn't built or optimised to serve them.
Supportive conversations about prostate health
Vet Your Prostate addresses this gap by working with farm vets – often the only medical professional a farmer sees regularly – to start informed, supportive conversations about prostate health during routine farm visits.
David James, director of patient projects and influencing at Prostate Cancer Research, said: "Prostate cancer is unusual in that, when it is diagnosed early at Stages 1 or 2, survival rates are extremely high, with almost all men surviving for at least five years. But when the disease is diagnosed late, survival rates fall dramatically to less than 50%. That is why early detection is so critical."
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The message echoes that shared by Clarkson's Farm star Jeremy Clarkson who urged fellow farmers to get tested following his diagnosis in May 2025. Taking to social media, Mr Clarkson said: "I'm not just not dead, I'm perfectly fine. And the reason why I am fine is because the doctors caught the prostate cancer early, and they caught it early because I got tested."
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The test kits are provided by health tech partner Thriva. They provide an innovative autodraw device and the technology and clinical oversight that makes on-farm PSA testing a reality.
"A farmer might avoid visiting a doctor for months, but they will not miss a vet appointment," said Vernon Bainton, chief medical officer of Havas Lynx, the creative health agency behind the initiative.
"It is one of the most trusted relationships on a farm. By fitting the solution into the existing vet farmer routine, the programme delivers life saving awareness and Thriva's PSA autodraw kits exactly where they're needed most, meeting people where they are, not where we wish they'd be." says Vernon Bainton, Chief Medical Officer of Havas Lynx, the creative health agency, behind the initiative.
Trusted friends
The initiative is supported by the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) and IVC Evidensia which collectively represent thousands of veterinary professionals across the UK.
David Black, president of the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) which has more than 1,600 farm vets within its organisation, said: "We are delighted to support this initiative. Farm vets are privileged to work alongside their farm clients and often becomes trusted friends with the opportunity to chat about issues that may impact them.
"Anything that we can do to raise awareness of prostate cancer among our farming communities is very positive."
For more information on Vet Your Prostate click here
- If you or someone you know is concerned about cancer, there is help and advice available from Farmwell.
