EXCEPTIONAL support offered to British agriculture by a veterinary surgeon from Devon has been recognised with a nomination for a prestigious, national award.

Dick Sibley, who runs a 14-vet practice across five sites in the South West, including Winkleigh, has been shortlisted in the coveted Livestock Advisor of the Year category at the Farmers' Weekly Awards.

This category hopes to acknowledge those who have made an outstanding contribution to the UK's livestock farming community.

Dick has been instrumental in encouraging greater levels of health, welfare and productivity among the nation's dairy herds. Some eleven members of his team of veterinary surgeons are dedicated to the care of farm animals, working from the practice's main site at Witheridge and from branches at Winkleigh, Tiverton and Crediton.

Dick was also the founder of an invaluable resource for the dairy industry known as myhealthyherd.com

This web-based system can be used to assess the health of a herd and to ensure preventative measures are taken against any potential risks, such as those presented by tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

The site also includes a database showing herd disease status, allowing farmers to trade animals securely and to avoid the introduction of potentially infected livestock into their herd.

The system has been commissioned by the British Cattle Veterinary Association (the specialist cattle division of the British Veterinary Association) and has now been rolled out in veterinary practices across the UK.

More recently, it was also launched to the wider farming public at The Dairy Event and Livestock Show held in Warwickshire last month.