Basic HTML Version
AUTUMN 2011 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
20
S H O W S & E V E N T S
This year the NSA sheep event headed back north to West Nubbock
Farm near Hexham. One heavy rain shower early on didn't dampen
the spirits of the thousands that took time off from their busy schedules
to attend the event.
NSA North Sheep 2011
There was a friendly buzz about the place
and once again the FarmSkills stand and its
plethora of green t-shirt clad helpers took full
advantage of the situation, with a lambing
simulator challenge, tying a halter out of a
single piece of rope and of course the now
infamous FarmSkills juggler. We had people
literally swarming around us vying to win one
of the vibrant green t-shirts and to find out
more about the courses on offer.
Thanks go to Jonathan Stockton (Kingsway),
Claire Davies, Lee-Anne Oliver, Douglas
Palmer and Roger Scott (Scott Mitchell), Jenny
Hull (Alnorthumbria), Martin Peat (Castle),
Kevin Beattie and Andrew Reid (Capontree)
and Judith Lee (Westmorland) who came
along throughout the day to help on the stand
with Sophie Throup (FarmSkills), Iain Richards
and Alyson Staines (XLVets).
Many of the XLVet members managed to
catch up with their clients who had come for
a day out which is always good and there
was much interest in both FarmSkills and
XLVets in general which kept us very busy
for the entire day. We all agreed that the
venue was great and so was the turnout
and once again we received very positive
feedback from all those who visited the
stand, learnt a new skill and left inspired,
eager to participate in a FarmSkills
workshop near them.
Targeting anyone involved in day-to-day
dairy farming, the conference aimed to give
practical hints and tips, as well as exploring
some wider industry issues, with speakers
such as David Alvis who looked at the future
of large scale herds in the UK.
From the XLVets team, Jonathan Statham from
Bishopton Vets discussed how to optimise the
vet/herd manager relationship emphasising
openness and communication as critical to
success. Jon Reader of Synergy Farm Health
examined the health and welfare implications
of lameness and mastitis in dairy herds. His
talk looked at the overall herd performance
impact of these two ongoing health
challenges as well as the response to different
treatment and management approaches.
Lambert, Leonard and May's Den Leonard
spent some time looking at costs and losses
associated with the 'hidden' diseases -
infectious diseases such as BVD, Leptospirosis
and IBR. Commonly recognised as coming
closely behind lameness, mastitis and fertility
as areas of economic loss for a herd, he
discussed how to best work with your vet to
understand the challenge your herd is facing
and then to develop a control plan. Typically,
such plans will be quite broad encompassing
management issues such as bio-security,
protocols for buying in stock and vaccination.
LKL intends that the conference will become
an annual event, so look out for more details
next summer.
LKL hosted the
UK's first ever National Herdsman’s Conference
on
22nd and 23rd July at Harper Adams to mark the 60th anniversary
of the company, with no fewer than three XLVet speakers addressing
the 100-strong audience.
A great success at the UK's first
National Herdsman’s Conference
Jon Reader
Jonathan Stratham
Den Leonard