NSA Shearwell EID Stick Reader Kit prize giveaway 2015: Alex Pyke, Shropshire
23rd June 2015
A good soaking from the inclement weather at NSA Welsh Sheep was all forgotten by new NSA member Alex Pyke when he got the news that he was the June winner in the monthly draw for an EID stick reader kit.
He says: “My wife took the call from NSA and wasn’t really sure what we had won (I think she would have liked a holiday!). Then she rang me and I was very surprised, due to how busy the NSA stand was at NSA Welsh Sheep 2015, with the number of people signing up.
“The prize couldn’t have come at a better time for us, as our sheep numbers are set to grow and it will save time in checking all the tags, off and on the farm. We have never used a stick reader before. We just have lots of bits of paper, which always seem to get lost or dropped in the pens while the family was shouting out tag numbers! The Shearwell stick reader is also compatible with my office software, which is great.”
Alex, wife Tracey and their young boys now live on a tenanted farm at Calverhall, Whitchurch, Shropshire, having established a sheep flock seven years ago on rented ground. The flock has grown to 320 commercial ewes, running in tandem with an arable enterprise on the 230-acre unit. Alex has been involved in the sheep sector from an early stage and worked hard to establish his own flock alongside work commitments on other farms and businesses.
He explains how he plans to grow his flock more still: “We produce prime lamb for the local market, with some lambs also going to a local butchers shop. We lamb in mid-February and creep feed lambs to get them sold at 42kg liveweight. Welsh Mules make up most of the flock, with 60 Texel cross Lleyn ewes. Tups are crossbred Beltex-Charollais and Charollais-Texel. Currently we are looking into starting a pure flock of 150 Lleyn ewes, as we want to bred our own replacements and maybe sell excess ewe lambs and/or yearlings so we’re not so reliant upon the prime lamb trade.
“I’ve beeen meaning to join the NSA for a while, so when I realised I didn’t need to pay for entry for NSA Welsh Sheep, it was an ideal opportunity to do it at the gate there. I felt I need to be in touch with the voice of British sheep farming.”
NSA is giving away a total of 12 readers between 1st December 2014 and 30th November 2015 as part of its membership recruitment campaign. Full terms and conditions and membership application forms at www.nationalsheep.org.uk/draw.
