NSA voucher giveaway 2016: Alex Thorneycroft-Taylor, Dorset
16th August 2016
Winning a £200 voucher for a state-of-the-art sheep health kit could not have come at a better time for NSA member Alex Thorneycroft-Taylor, as he embarks on a programme to monitor and analyse wormer resistance across the 1,000 head flock he manages at Wardon Hill, Dorchester, Dorset.
Sheep can pick up internal parasites from the grass they graze through the year, but the ‘wormer’ medicines used to kill these pests have to be used carefully to ensure they remain effective and resistance does not develop. FecpakG2 is a new tool available to help farmers determine when sheep need to receive drugs and if the treatment has been effective. To encourage best practice among flocks, NSA is giving away six £200 vouchers for members to put towards FecpakG2 kits throughout 2016.
The vouchers are part of a wider initiative to reward new NSA members and existing members who recommend a friend or neighbour to sign up to the association. Of the various vouchers given away in the fourth of six draws through the year, it was Alex who got his hands on the FecpakG2 one.
“Monitoring growth rates, carrying our weaning checks and keep on top of parasitic challenges is a big focus for us at the moment,” says Alex, explaining this applies to the 170 suckler cows as well as the sheep on the 2,800-acre estate where he works. “We’re currently monitoring grazing and seasonality patterns, looking at establishing the most effective stocking levels for both enterprises in the future.
“We’ve also introduced full flock recording into the sheep enterprise this year, which begun during lambing. We’re now recording data at birth right through to carcase selection and will also be recording abattoir data with the aim of improving specifications across the board to produce lambs that people want on their dinner plates.”
As a relatively new NSA member, Alex adds: “I decided to join up a couple of months ago, seeing it as the perfect opportunity to associate with and meet other people actively wanting to work alongside sheep. The wealth of information NSA produce has also enabled me to easily keep up to date with current welfare and legalisation requirements. I would urge other sheep farmers to consider joining too.”
Full prize draw terms and conditions, plus NSA membership application forms, at www.nationalsheep.org.uk/draw.
