Farmers raise £5000 for farming charity RABI as part of 'Pledge to Protect' campaign

British farmers have helped raise an impressive £5,000 for farming community charity, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I), as part of Elanco Animal Health’s Pledge to Protect campaign.

Launched in July, the campaign encouraged farmers to make a symbolic free ‘pledge’, either online or at events, to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the issue of immune suppression in dairy cows. For each pledge - tracked through the life-sized 2D cow, Pledge Cow - Elanco donated £5; money of which will help support the work of R.A.B.I, a charity who assists UK farmers and their families in times of need.

The R.A.B.I cheque handover ceremony took place last week at the BCVA Congress in Leicestershire. The key theme looked at how vets and farmers can work closer together to help improve herd welfare and longevity – issues central to Elanco’s Pledge to Protect campaign.

Kingsley Baxendale, Elanco’s Ruminant Marketing Manager, is delighted with the support farmers have shown the campaign: “Firstly, we’d like to say a massive thank you to all the farmers who engaged with the campaign and made their pledge. It’s been great to see the characteristic comradery of our industry in full swing, filling up ‘Pledge Cow’ to raise an impressive sum of money to help farming families, as well as boosting awareness about how best to tackle immune suppression-related transition diseases, such as mastitis, for the benefit of our dairy herds.”

Suzy Deeley, R.A.B.I’s Corporate Development Manager, added: “The money raised will make a real difference to the lives of the farmers that our work supports. Our remit is varied and touches all aspects of farm life; from helping working farmers in times of difficulty – whether because of weather, disease, illness or accident - to supporting farmers in retirement, so every penny really does have an impact.”