The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2016 - Issue 48 | Page 41

Sheep

Boost flock productivity
with Project L.A.M.B.

»» MSD ANIMAL HEALTH IS LAUNCHING
a new initiative to help the UK sheep
industry develop a proactive approach
to maximising output by optimising flock
performance.
Project L.A.M.B. aims to enhance the
relationship between sheep farmers and
their vet and places the emphasis firmly
on preventative healthcare to boost flock
productivity and minimise the risk of loss.
Using the sheep calendar year to ensure
seasonal and specific focus, Project
L.A.M.B. assists vet practices with timely
and targeted communications for up-todate information, with farmer meetings,
and with subsidised diagnostic services.

“The continued focus on reducing the
use of antibiotics in farmed livestock
means it’s vital that the whole British
sheep industry embraces active flock
health planning. It’s undoubtedly the
route to better flock productivity in a
challenging lamb market, better animal
health and improved farm efficiency,” says
Sean Riches from MSD Animal Health.
“Good records are an essential part of
benchmarking your flock’s performance
and using them to measure and monitor
farm targets should form the basis of
all flock health plans. They allow good
producers to measure where and why
losses may have occurred. Project
L.A.M.B. enables vets to access a simple
tool that helps review flock performance
with their sheep farmer clients,” he says.
Riches adds that there are good
examples of flocks that have improved
productivity by investing in an ongoing partnership with their vet. “In

these situations spending money on
preventative healthcare is, more often
than not, better than on medicines to
treat a disease. It also potentially leads to
reduced time for gathering and handling
the sheep, resulting in less stress all
around.”
Project L.A.M.B. brings together MSD
Animal Health’s sheep disease diagnostic
services – EXPERTIS™ FlockCheck and
Barren EweCheck for infectious abortion
and barrenness causes – alongside its
leading range of sheep vaccines. The
initiative will also provide a technical advice
and support platform for vets and farmers
upon which to develop a more proactive
approach to optimising flock health and
performance.
To find out how Project L.A.M.B. might
benefit your flock, contact your vet for
more information and details.
www.msd-animal-health.com

SCULPTURED SWALEDALE IN
PRIDE OF PLACE AT LUPTON
»»AS SWALEDALES GO, FARMER STANLEY
Richardson’s latest addition to his flock has
to be one of the most unusual in the UK. The
Cumbrian farmer admires the breed so much
he decided to commission a sculpture of one
of them from his neighbour, award-winning
sculptor Andrew Kay.*
“He lives down the road and it just seemed
silly that he is making these sculptures and we
have not got one,” he says. “We are known for
our sheep. I was talking about getting a deer
(sculpture) but it’s sheep that we stand for. Andy
does not do sheep normally but he did one
as a one-off and he had the horns just right. It
made sense we should have one. An important
thing with a Swaledale is the head and horns,
he’s got that just right again,” said Stanley.
The third generation farmer, his wife,
Margaret and their son, William have two farms
– 220 acres at Lupton near Kirkby Lonsdale
and the 500-acre Stonehouse Farm at Dent.
Apart from the flock of 650 sheep – 500 ewes
and 150 shearlings - they also specialise in

Riggits (they’ve got one of the biggest herds
of the rare breed cows in the country), Belted
Galloways, Whitebred Shorthorns and their
latest venture is a dozen rare breed CastlemilkMoorits sheep.
Now his new sculpture is in pride of place
on the lawn of their farmhouse in Lupton.
Andrew - who sells his sculptures - described
as ‘life-size charcoal sketches in steel’ - to
stately homes and collectors around the globe,
said having a neighbour commission him was
a refreshing change. “Often we’re working out
how we get a herd of deer to the Seychelles
or a giraffe to Belgium, with the sheep, we just
popped it in the back of the van and just drove
it the 300 metres to Stanley’s farm!”
The Richardson’s, who usually prefer
architecture to sculpture, say they are now
interested in commissioning a stag, which is
one of Andy’s trademark pieces.
*To see more of Andrew Kay’s sculptures
go to www.andrewkaysculpture.com

www.farmers-mart.co.uk Oct/Nov 2016 41