Making a mark on the farm: the marks and traces of farm animals and infectious diseases in northern England

Abstract

Farmed animals are expected to move through farmed spaces in certain ways to maximise their productivity. These spaces are also designed to limit the movement of disease-causing organisms. However, both types of lifeforms do not always move in expected ways. We focus on the mark-making of these organisms to explore: 1) the evidence of their movements through farm spaces; and 2) the effects of these movements on managing farm animal disease. We explore these questions via social-scientific and artistic practices. The social science draws on in-depth interviews with UK cattle and sheep farmers, and farm advisors. The artistic component draws on work conducted by an ‘artist in residence' engaging with farm animals and farmer-livestock relationships. Farm animals and infectious micro-organisms were found to move in different ways and create different marks and traces across farms, bodies, and how diseases were managed. These lifeforms often frustrated biosecurity practices of exclusion and enclosure and existed on a spectrum of disease risk. Human actors needed to learn to become attuned to lifeform movements in order to enact disease management. We conclude by suggesting a continued focus in future social-scientific research on how the ‘sub-animal body' contributes to the enacting of farm disease management.