A FARMER has marked sheep with rainbow colours ahead of a Pride fest taking place weekend.

Around five sheep at Peacock Farm in Staveley have been marked with different colours to resemble the pride flag ahead of Kendal Pride celebrations happening in town. 

The event is branded as 'pride done differently' and is underway as hundreds of people descend on the town for the celebrations starting on Friday (June 14) and running until Sunday (June 16).

The idea came from the owner Andrew Peacock to 'raise awareness' that there are gay people within the farming community.

 

He said: "We are trying to help young farmers and there are loads of issues with young farmers around mental health problems. One of the big issues with farming and mental health problems is being gay and coming out. So me and my partner decided to decorate some sheep.

"The old-school farmers are all a bit against that sort of thing so if you are young and in the farming community, it is hard to come out.

"Farmers in our area above the age of 60 are very old-fashioned so I think the young farmers of today are struggling a bit."

Andrew and his team have sprayed the animals with sheep marker which he says does not harm them.

'Pride' sheep on the field'Pride' sheep on the field (Image: Andrew Peacock) "They look quite interesting when you see them on the field. It looks like they have jumpers on," he said.

Peacock Farm focuses on sustainable farming. They have planted thousands of trees for the Woodland Trust. 

Andrew uses social media to share his ventures within the farm such as on Instagram and YouTube.

Andrew as invited any farmers would be interested in being in their podcast. The email is: hello@farmingpodcast.co.uk