NSA celebrates release of two new sheep books with prize draw
7th April 2016
To celebrate the release of two new books for the sheep sector, NSA has two copies of both Ken Riggall’s biography and Andrew Humprey’s upland management guide to give away.
Ken Riggall’s A Shepherd and his Flock: 50 Years with Suffolk Sheep plots his lifetime of devotion to breeding and showing Suffolks. As a child, he went round with a shepherd in his pony and trap. Then, after wartime service in the navy, he moved to East Anglia and began a career that brought countless show prizes for his sheep, and for himself an MBE from the Queen. He tells his story with simplicity and humour.
Reviewing the book, radio and TB presenter Paul Heiney says: “This book remains a celebration of a way of country living that we will never see again. The instinctive powers of the native countryman have been largely lost and, like the bloodlines of the rare breeds of farm animals which have also disappeared, it is difficult to see how they can ever be revived. By setting them out in this book, Ken has made sure that a small piece of rural history has been preserved.”
Not lucky enough to win? Ken’s book is available to buy at £9.99 from your local bookshop or online.
Andrew Humphries, also an MBE, tackles a more technical subject in Hill Sheep Husbandry in England: Adaptive to change in diverse ecosystems. It covers the wide range of expectations of multiple land users in the uplands, while also presenting a set of flexible husbandry principles for farmers. The relationship between soils, vegetation and grazing are examined, plus an overview of the nutritional value of commonly grazed plants.
Andrew says: “Grazing of the uplands has been relegated to discussions about its impact on other outcomes. Why is sheep nutrition not a central consideration in stewardship scheme design? This monograph seeks to present a more informed view of hill sheep nutrition. The diversity of grazing units emphasises the difficulty of prescription in favour of site specific solutions. Combining purposeful hill farming with the delivery of high value public goods is an outcome worthy of our best efforts.”
Andrew’s is £8 via the Foundation for Common Land at www.foundationforcommonland.org.uk/hill-sheep-husbandry-in-england.
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email your name and preferred book title to enquiries@nationalsheep.org.uk by midnight on Monday 2nd May. If you are an NSA member, we just need your NSA membership number. If you are not a member, we will need your postal address and number of sheep that you keep. [Please note the closing date published in the April/May edition of Sheep Farmer magazine is wrong]
Small print: This draw is open to NSA members and non-members. NSA will do its best to provide your preference of book and post it within one week of the draw closing. Entries received after the closing date of Monday 2nd May will not be entered in the draw. NSA employees, trustees their families, agents and anyone else connected to this promotion are not eligible to take part. Prizes are non-transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash or exchanged. Names will be published in NSA communications when the draw is concluded, but no contact details will be shared with third parties. By entering the prize draw, entrants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
