Life as a VetSalus Consultant

During the latter half of 2025 VetSalus were approached by Bixter to support the development of their training courses, which are designed to prepare international workers for the realities of working on farms in Europe. We spoke with VetSalus consultant Thomas Dahl Nissen, to find out more about his experience on the project. 

As a VetSalus consultant, I recently took on a rather different assignment – collaborating with the company Bixter, which recruits farm workers for agriculture across Europe (dairy, pigs, and poultry). Bixter primarily finds employees from South America, Africa, and Asia.

One of the challenges with employing international workers is that they may come from very different cultural backgrounds and potentially have less familiarity with contemporary European farming practices. To address this – for the benefit of both employees and farmers – Bixter has launched the development of an online training platform, Bixter Academy. The aim is to give new workers basic knowledge about how the modern farm operates, what the work routines look like, and why they matter. The platform also includes material on cultural differences and working conditions in Europe.

This is where I came into the picture. Through VetSalus, I have been given the task of serving as veterinary consultant for Bixter – which might sound fancy, but in practice it means reviewing and quality-assuring all the cattle-related material Bixter has prepared for Bixter Academy. I comment and correct wherever something can be more accurate or clearer. The topics covered are wide-ranging – from manure handling and TMR mixing to milking techniques and cattle breeds – but generally kept at a basic level that gives employees an understanding of the environment they will be working in.

In addition, we have produced short instructional videos showing various workflows on dairy farms. In some of them, I appear on camera and explain the same topics the employees read about. Soon, we will begin recording podcasts where I go into more depth on selected subjects such as udder health and biosecurity.

If you enjoy trying new and slightly different things, I can highly recommend working as a VetSalus consultant. It is professionally relevant, gives you the opportunity to use your expertise in new ways – and you will definitely gain experience that you can take with you going forward.

— Thomas Nissen, cattle veterinarian, Dyrlæger & Ko

We are seeking veterinary consultants to join our network of like-minded professionals. If you are an experienced veterinarian or paraprofessional and would like to apply, find out more here: https://vetsalus.com/contact-us/become-a-consultant