A company committed to improving the health and welfare of animals is celebrating half a century of working with livestock farmers in the UK.

Following the acquisition of Allflex Livestock Intelligence and its sister companies Sure Petcare and Biomark in 2019, MSD Animal Health is celebrating 50 years of improving livestock health and performance.

The company has been at the forefront of research, bringing forward medicines, vaccines and innovative health solutions for the world’s most challenging diseases.

Kevin Parker, ruminant business unit director, said: “MSD Animal Health has a long and proud history of working with generations of livestock farmers to enable them to meet the industry’s changing needs and challenges, and to improve the performance and profitability of their herds and flocks.

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“The story of our SenseHub herd monitoring system goes back to 1976 when SCR was established. During its early years, and before being acquired by the Allflex Group in 2014, SCR designed a range of milking pulsators and automatic cluster removers (ACRs), after which it became the industry leader in advanced cow monitoring solutions.”

MSD Animal Health’s heritage goes back even further.

Kevin said: “Established in the 1940s, we’ve been developing and supplying a range of animal health products, including vaccines for the dairy, beef and sheep sectors, for over 80 years.

"And with Allflex, our livestock identification division, which has roots that stretch back to the 1950s, MSD Animal Health is the global leader in monitoring, identification and animal health products for species as diverse as dairy cows and beef cattle, pigs, poultry, equine, companion animals and aquaculture.”

Going forward, MSD Animal Health’s strategy is to continue investing in the development of precision technologies which will enhance farming efficiencies, save time and labour, and raise the standard of animal health and welfare on UK farms.

“This is only the beginning,” Kevin said. “Our primary goal as a community of industry experts and professionals is to continue to safeguard the knowledge, management practices and values that have sustained livestock farming in the UK for generations and to help modern farmers to farm with more freedom.”