The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2019 - Issue 63 | Page 10

10 FARM NEWS
JUN/JUL 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk
75 YEARS OF INDEPENDENT
VETERINARY CARE IN YORKSHIRE
BISHOPTON Vets are celebrat-
ing our 75th anniversary this year,
something which the whole prac-
tice is extremely proud of, and
have a variety of events planned
throughout the year to mark the
occasion! The original practice
was founded by Ronald Wood in
1944 and was located at Caxton
Lodge in Ripon. The practice
moved to its current premises at
Mill Farm in 1993 from where the
small animal, farm animal, pig and
equine vet teams now operate.
There are currently 7 partners
who are passionate about the
future of the practice as an
independently owned business.
Although entirely independently
owned by those 7 partners, Bish-
opton is part of an association of
like-minded independent veteri-
nary practices in the UK ‘XL Vets’
which supports cost-effective
buying and supports ‘excellence
in practice’.
Although much has changed
in 75 years, the emphasis on
proactive preventative health
planning and innovative thinking
have been consistent themes at
Bishopton. Since early 2000s the
vets at Bishopton have specialised
in their area of interest in order to
be at the forefront of preventative
health care of the animals on our
farms. We currently have 15 vets
specialising in ruminants and 4
vets specialising in pigs, who are
always looking to be at the cutting
edge and improving themselves
through further qualifications. Vets
are heavily involved in the farming
industry and veterinary commu-
nity and current members of the
clinical team have held positions
of President on the British Cattle
Veterinary Association (BCVA)
boards and Pig Veterinary Society
(PVS) boards as well as previous
partner Neil Spedding holding the
presidency of the Sheep Veteri-
nary Society.
Through our team of experi-
enced and dedicated vets we aim
to provide a first class service to
our farm clients, responding to
day to day emergencies/ fire bri-
gade work, but keeping preventa-
tive health work a high priority
too. Much of our daily workload
is preventative medicine and
proactive herd and flock health
work, supporting the smooth and
sustainable running of the farm
business.
To deliver high level herd and
flock health Bishopton runs herd
and flock health schemes, so that
this important work remains a
priority for both our farmers and
vets even in busy times of the
year. Time is put aside to measure
performance, review the data and
then make any changes to the sys-
tem that may be required. A key
part of the herd and flock health
work is the relationships that are
built between the farm and their
specific vets, who are responsible
for the health and performance of
the stock on the farm.
Bishopton has always been
heavily involved with farmer
education and training, being one
of the first practices in the area
to regularly deliver Foot trim-
ming and Do It Yourself Artificial
Insemination (DIY AI) of cattle.
This side of the business has
continued to develop and is now
run through Bishopton’s sister
company ‘RAFT Solutions’, who
deliver courses on a wide variety
of subjects for dairy, beef and
sheep farmers. Bishopton run a
busy schedule of farmer discus-
sion groups to keep clients up to
date with the latest information
and research, often bringing
national and international experts
in their field to speak. Another
approach to this has been taking
farmers on study trips to farms
locally but also abroad, including
a trip to Wisconsin in the United
States where a number of clients,
including John and Sally Banks
from Wildon Grange and Colin Ni-
cholson from Castiles, benefited
from seeing some excellent dairy
units and implementing the ideas
on their own units when they
returned home. In the case of
Colin and Sean Nicholson this trip
was part of their decision process
of returning to a block calving
pasture-based system and not
the intensive systems seen in
Wisconsin.
As well as delivering vet and
farmer training, RAFT solutions
provide advanced cattle breed-
ing services, including Embryo
Transfer (ET) and Ovum Pick up
In Vitro Fertilisation (OPU/IVF),
which are effective ways for Ped-
igree farms to increase the rate
of genetic progress in the herd,
by producing more offspring
from the best animals. This is an
approach that has been taken by
the Knox family of the Mill Close
Aberdeen angus herd. RAFT also
has a cutting-edge laboratory ana-
lysing bull and Boar semen using
the industry leading ‘SemenRate’
analysis approach and receiving
samples for expert analysis from
all over the UK and internation-
ally linked with other experts.
Research is another key area that
RAFT are heavily involved with,
specialising in close to market
research utilising a network of
farms that has been established in
North Yorkshire. Current pro-
jects include the use of rumen
temperature boluses to monitor
health, reproductive and calving
events as well as UK leading work
supporting breeding for future
‘Resilient and Efficient’ animals
in response to climate change in
the ‘GenTORE’ project. In a time
of intense change in society and
agri-food, Bishopton & RAFT are
committed to supporting our
clients in adapting to sustainable
farming and reminding consum-
ers of the importance of quality
food produced safely and to high
welfare standards.
Bishopton has its main prem-
ises at Mill Farm in Ripon, small
animal branch surgeries and
farmer medicine dispensaries in
Northallerton, Pateley Bridge and
Easingwold along with a farm an-
imal office at York. Our excellent
facilities are only bettered by the
outstanding people that work in
our practice; from the veterinary
team to dispensers, nurses, techs
and client care.
The celebrations of 75 years
began with a Diamond anniver-
sary ball in December. There are
further events upcoming including
an open day at the Ripon surgery
in June, a 75 mile charity bike
ride, a charity clay shoot and
BBQ and culminating in a charity
dinner and auction of promises
in October. Independent veteri-
nary practice has a long history in
North Yorkshire, with the heritage
of James Herriot. Bishopton is
proud to continue that inde-
pendent tradition and is adapting
to remain at the cutting edge of
modern veterinary science, with-
out forgetting our local roots and
the farming families and quality
livestock that have got us to where
we are today.