Kirree Kermode 32 Isle of Man
This years’ NSA Ambassador group will have something a bit different, with Kirree being the first person to be selected from the Isle of Man. Despite living off the mainland, Kirree – and her parents and brothers – are well known throughout the UK for selling pedigree Texel rams, including some via the NSA Wales & Border Sale. They’ve recently added Texel-Charollais crosses to their portfolio, as well as the Charollais rams they’ve always sold locally. Kirree takes charge of the sheep enterprise at Ballasalla (in the south of the island) managing the unit’s 250 Texel and 80 Charollais pedigree ewes, as well as a 600-ewe flock of mainly Suffolk and Texel crosses. She has big plans for the sheep, wanting to ensure the breeding ethos across them all is focused on the commercial traits that both buyers and the home farm need to survive. Top fact: Kirree co-presents a countryside show on a local radio station, broadcasting two half-hour shows each week. She enjoys finding farming stories to
Kirree completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? After Storm Ofelia stole our lambing polytunnel in October it took a bit of reconstruction and preparation before we could get the ewes in. We tupped 100 less early lambing pedigree Texels and, with the way the winter has gone, thank heavens we did. Grass has been extremely slow growing, if at all at times. They have lambed really well with very little problems. That said, a group of 25 that we fed on better grass they came in a few weeks earlier and proved to be more difficult to lamb. We had to assist most if them so won’t be doing that again in a hurry! After a tough winter last year we decided to push the crossbred lambing to 1st April and, with an even tougher winter this year it’s definitely proving to be a good move... so far.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was really surprised how friendly and how well our group got on, even with such a cross section of farming enterprises. It was refreshing how passionate and driven each Ambassador was and I felt that it really rubbed off. On return to my farm it made me more enthusiastic to try new things, and knowing I could have support and people to ask questions gave me confidence too.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? I absolutely hate the winter and darkness so by Christmastime I find myself craving daylight and warmth, counting down the days until the clocks change. It really lifts the spirits, with a sense of relief and a ‘We have made it’ feeling. I find winter is becoming a feat of endurance of the unexpected.
- If you could swap your farm (or the farm you work on) for the farm of one of the other NSA Next Generation Ambassador’s this year, which one would you chose and why? I would swap with Richard in the south of England, as I seem to becoming a fair weather farmer! I believe the climate is marginally better there and, with easier access to arable products, would make it quite a luxury compared to the island’s ongoing cereal shortage problem.
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? (Or highlight so far?) Dry bright days were a big hit with us this lambing time. They seemed to be few and far between but, when they did appear it enabled us to get sheep and lambs out to grass, where they definitely seem to do better. It was a huge sense of relief, as on some days it looked like standing room only in the shed and the build-up of bugs was on the horizon, so a good day was definitely welcomed!
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? I’ve enrolled to do a teaching course with CEVAS but it has now been postponed until autumn, so I’m in the process of finding another course a bit earlier in the year, as I want to get going with open days through summer.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? We don’t get a fortune for our wool like the Marks & Spencer £90 lambswool jumpers seem to indicate. The public seems to think we get most of that value.
- The tough spring conditions have caused high lambing losses and stunted grass growth for most places. If a genie offered you more grass growth, more live lambs on the ground or one other wish, which would you chose and why? More grass for sure. I love to see the stock full, lying sleeping rather than up scavenging about. This year has definitely tested man and beast! As the old saying goes ‘less is more’ ... but with the price of lamb this year I wouldn’t mind fields full of both!
May
- What’s keeping you busy at the moment, and what job do you really need to get done but can’t find the time for? The sheep are finally enjoying the long awaited sunshine and gaining a good few pounds, but in turn they are starting to roll and getting stuck on their backs, which is making shearing a real priority. But with planting crops, fieldwork and fencing these fields off from livestock there aren’t enough hours in the day.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? We are delighted with this year’s lamb crop. Despite the ewes being slightly leaner and enduring a horrible winter they really have performed well. Making the decision to lamb later than usual at the end of April / into May has really helped. A better survival rate hitting the ground and going ahead straight away with sun on their backs has definitely made a difference.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? I spent it tagging, vaccinating and dosing pedigree lambs with my brothers. We had a good laugh and catch up. It was the first day of not feeling so much like winter!
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? A breeding pair of native Manx Loaghtan sheep with the ram having the biggest four horns possible; a fierce looking beast!
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was really impressed by Marc Jones and his grass-based system for both cattle and sheep. His honesty in what worked and what didn’t work by sharing his own costings for different systems showed there isn’t a right or wrong way to get your results. As long as you really focus on your farm, what it can carry and produce to its maximum yield most of the time, we can all reach the same goal but in different ways. I found that reassuring and found his costings session really interesting and full of tips to really improve our businesses.
- If a bus of NSA members turned up to view your flock today, what would you take them to see (and what would you try and hide)?! I would show them around all my flocks of sheep and wouldn’t hide anything – but look to them for ways to improve and take ideas and suggestions to help reach certain targets I was aiming for. I think knowledge transfer and listening to other methods can really help sheep farmers, especially younger ones!
- The Government is currently exploring animal welfare in transport / live exports, due to pressure from the anti-farming lobby to ban live exports. What would you like to say to Michael Gove and his civil servants on this topic? Being an islander, live export is an essential part of our farming life. It keeps trade fair on the island, knowing that if they don’t achieve a satisfactory price the farmers here are not held to ransom. It gives opportunity for pedigree livestock to be added to the global gene pool and, on the flip side, importation of new genetics and seed stock is essential to breeding quality. This all brings in new money to the islands economy. As far as animal welfare goes, done professionally and correctly with five-star standard transporters there is no harm done to livestock and it’s in the farmers best interest to get his livestock to its destination in the best possible condition. Why anyone would cut corners is beyond me.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? Lambing time has to be the best time in sheep production. New life never gets old and knowing that a ewe was struggling and you helped her with a good outcome is biggest sense of pride and, in most cases, relief too! The worst part is selling sheep you’ve hand reared. Whether it be show stock or pet lambs, you always want the best homes for them. I think my girlie side comes out quite a bit at sale time!
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? The sheep have coped remarkably well, with lambs looking great and gaining weight nicely. On the other hand, I have been stressing and worrying for them as, if it is to continue, we will run into big problems later in the year.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? Be ready for change. Don’t have all your eggs in one basket. Diversify where possible.
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? We attend at Royal Highland and Great Yorkshire. I rather the GYS as the weather in July is normally a little better, it’s only three days so it’s not so long for livestock to be away from their normal environment, and their sheep shed is perfect for stock (really airy and cool).
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. We have five bitches. Mother and daughter Jip and Freckle are homebred especially for cattle work. We purchased two sisters, Percy (3) and Tilly (2), from Percy Tait’s stockman Will Price in Worcester. They’re an exceptional pair who can do all aspects of sheep work. One day they will talk, they’re so intelligent! Finally Nelly (1) from Northern Ireland. She’s mad as a box of frogs but seriously powerful with bags of talent, if we can get her steadied up. I don’t know how farmers manage without working dogs. I wouldn’t enjoy farming as much without them.
August
- How are you going to feed your stock this winter? Will you have to feed a higher number of concentrates due to the lack of roughage? Will you use fodder crops? The winter is going to be very hard with shortage of fodder in the form of hay or silage in particular. For us we feed very little of this to our sheep throughout the winter anyway, but always make just enough in case the snow comes, but even then we only have half of what we’d have in a normal year so far. But we have planted extra green crop for any later finishing lambs. I think the majority of people will cull exceptionally hard and maybe not keep as many replacements this year. The rain has finally come on the island and things are greening up. A lot of fertiliser has been spread trying to get last minute silage crops.
- How have you, or will you be preparing for tupping. How will you flush your ewes with so little grass available? Are your tups in yet? Tups are ready for action. It’s been a good summer for sheep seemingly, even with very little grass about. They’re in good condition and feet have been sound with the dry weather. We use slow release vit min boluses and (we believe) they keep them looking well with a natural bloom for longer. We always have a good amount of tups in case of injury or illness.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? Cups of tea, a good home comfort tea like mince and onion pie with mash and gravy, and a sit on the sofa before falling asleep 10 minutes later!
- What is your favourite lamb dish? I love a new one I found on holidays in Crete. Greek-style crispy rolled lamb breast with feta, mint potatoes and kos salad. Refreshing and delish.
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? We don’t use any chemicals on our grassland, only on weeds in the corn crops, as we don’t particularly like using them when stock are to eat the pasture shortly after. We only cut our hedges every second or third year, as we are a very windswept farm and get a lot of benefit from good, natural hedges especially at lambing time. Plus they’re good for blackberries, not just for pies and jams but the birds are about in abundance enjoying their fair share too.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? I really don’t like winter! October is probably our quieter month of the year, so earlier finishes, log fires and hopefully crisp dry days with stock ticking over nicely - the calm before the storm. Bringing cattle in for winter is never too far away at this time of year, and then it gets busy all over again!
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? We culled hard this year. With the shortage of fodder it’s too much of a risk to carry passengers so we have gone down the road of quality rather than quantity again. We may have to help a bit more at lambing time but quality seems to always find a market.
- If you weren’t a sheep farmer what would you be and why? A pathologist or detective; I love figuring things out!
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? The Texel, especially the showring ones. They develop attitudes and turn into complete tarts they know when to own it!
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? At the moment holding together the tups raddle harness, but literally it saves the day on so many occasions.
October
- Who is your farming hero? I believe every farmer enduring some of mother nature’s finest weather to produce food for our nation is not just a hero but a superhero!
- What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming? Quality rather than quantity when purchasing stock, attention to detail, and the old saying ‘Don’t put it off until tomorrow if you can do it today’. Your hard work will pay off and, although there will be many hurdles, don’t give up!
- The previous NSA Ambassador session visited British Wool, a timely visit as ‘Wool Week’ falls in October. What surprised or encouraged you about this visit? I was blown away at our visit to British Wool and scouring plant, the sheer scale of both operations and how well organised and run they were. Attention to environmental precautions were paramount throughout the whole process, especially at the factory with the cleaning, combing and discarding of waste water/sludge. They had huge investment in laboratory apparatus to monitor the chemicals found within the fleeces. It was absolutely fastening and certainly made us a lot more aware of the products we use on our sheep.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I think I’d really enjoy growing fruit trees or flowers. I love colour in the countryside and there’s nothing more satisfying than eating your own produce, or drinking it for that matter (wine!)
Final round of questions
- Of the farms you’ve visited during your year as an Ambassador, which would you like to live and work on and why – or, which farmer you have met would you like to work with and why? I really liked Deer Park Hall with Mark Steele. There was so much variety within his enterprise, covering really good niche markets, adding value to each of his products and no two days would be the same there.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and implemented on your farm since becoming an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Are you seeing any benefits from this already? The use of antibiotics has been reduced when working with our stock. After our first session we were still lambing at home and I was able to use different methods advised by Phillipa Page that worked to prevent joint ill.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. To be pay more attention to cost of production and get more benefits from grass crops.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? I see Zoey Symington relocating to the mainland and being the main coordinator and lamb buyer for stock from Shetland, exporting to the mainland onto a holding she has where she can grow them on, rather than selling them as light lambs on to a declining market.
- 2019 is just around the corner. Will you be making any new year’s resolutions for yourself personally or for your farm / place of work in 2019? To embrace more EID technology to make life easier than using soggy bits of paper!
- Brexit has been the top topic during your first year as an Ambassador. Where do you think the final negotiations will end up and will it be good for UK sheep farmers? I really don’t know, but I will remain positive whatever the outcome. We always need food and, if we focus on producing the best quality stock we can, I think it will always be wanted.
This years’ NSA Ambassador group will have something a bit different, with Kirree being the first person to be selected from the Isle of Man. Despite living off the mainland, Kirree – and her parents and brothers – are well known throughout the UK for selling pedigree Texel rams, including some via the NSA Wales & Border Sale. They’ve recently added Texel-Charollais crosses to their portfolio, as well as the Charollais rams they’ve always sold locally. Kirree takes charge of the sheep enterprise at Ballasalla (in the south of the island) managing the unit’s 250 Texel and 80 Charollais pedigree ewes, as well as a 600-ewe flock of mainly Suffolk and Texel crosses. She has big plans for the sheep, wanting to ensure the breeding ethos across them all is focused on the commercial traits that both buyers and the home farm need to survive. Top fact: Kirree co-presents a countryside show on a local radio station, broadcasting two half-hour shows each week. She enjoys finding farming stories to
Kirree completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? After Storm Ofelia stole our lambing polytunnel in October it took a bit of reconstruction and preparation before we could get the ewes in. We tupped 100 less early lambing pedigree Texels and, with the way the winter has gone, thank heavens we did. Grass has been extremely slow growing, if at all at times. They have lambed really well with very little problems. That said, a group of 25 that we fed on better grass they came in a few weeks earlier and proved to be more difficult to lamb. We had to assist most if them so won’t be doing that again in a hurry! After a tough winter last year we decided to push the crossbred lambing to 1st April and, with an even tougher winter this year it’s definitely proving to be a good move... so far.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was really surprised how friendly and how well our group got on, even with such a cross section of farming enterprises. It was refreshing how passionate and driven each Ambassador was and I felt that it really rubbed off. On return to my farm it made me more enthusiastic to try new things, and knowing I could have support and people to ask questions gave me confidence too.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? I absolutely hate the winter and darkness so by Christmastime I find myself craving daylight and warmth, counting down the days until the clocks change. It really lifts the spirits, with a sense of relief and a ‘We have made it’ feeling. I find winter is becoming a feat of endurance of the unexpected.
- If you could swap your farm (or the farm you work on) for the farm of one of the other NSA Next Generation Ambassador’s this year, which one would you chose and why? I would swap with Richard in the south of England, as I seem to becoming a fair weather farmer! I believe the climate is marginally better there and, with easier access to arable products, would make it quite a luxury compared to the island’s ongoing cereal shortage problem.
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? (Or highlight so far?) Dry bright days were a big hit with us this lambing time. They seemed to be few and far between but, when they did appear it enabled us to get sheep and lambs out to grass, where they definitely seem to do better. It was a huge sense of relief, as on some days it looked like standing room only in the shed and the build-up of bugs was on the horizon, so a good day was definitely welcomed!
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? I’ve enrolled to do a teaching course with CEVAS but it has now been postponed until autumn, so I’m in the process of finding another course a bit earlier in the year, as I want to get going with open days through summer.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? We don’t get a fortune for our wool like the Marks & Spencer £90 lambswool jumpers seem to indicate. The public seems to think we get most of that value.
- The tough spring conditions have caused high lambing losses and stunted grass growth for most places. If a genie offered you more grass growth, more live lambs on the ground or one other wish, which would you chose and why? More grass for sure. I love to see the stock full, lying sleeping rather than up scavenging about. This year has definitely tested man and beast! As the old saying goes ‘less is more’ ... but with the price of lamb this year I wouldn’t mind fields full of both!
May
- What’s keeping you busy at the moment, and what job do you really need to get done but can’t find the time for? The sheep are finally enjoying the long awaited sunshine and gaining a good few pounds, but in turn they are starting to roll and getting stuck on their backs, which is making shearing a real priority. But with planting crops, fieldwork and fencing these fields off from livestock there aren’t enough hours in the day.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? We are delighted with this year’s lamb crop. Despite the ewes being slightly leaner and enduring a horrible winter they really have performed well. Making the decision to lamb later than usual at the end of April / into May has really helped. A better survival rate hitting the ground and going ahead straight away with sun on their backs has definitely made a difference.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? I spent it tagging, vaccinating and dosing pedigree lambs with my brothers. We had a good laugh and catch up. It was the first day of not feeling so much like winter!
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? A breeding pair of native Manx Loaghtan sheep with the ram having the biggest four horns possible; a fierce looking beast!
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was really impressed by Marc Jones and his grass-based system for both cattle and sheep. His honesty in what worked and what didn’t work by sharing his own costings for different systems showed there isn’t a right or wrong way to get your results. As long as you really focus on your farm, what it can carry and produce to its maximum yield most of the time, we can all reach the same goal but in different ways. I found that reassuring and found his costings session really interesting and full of tips to really improve our businesses.
- If a bus of NSA members turned up to view your flock today, what would you take them to see (and what would you try and hide)?! I would show them around all my flocks of sheep and wouldn’t hide anything – but look to them for ways to improve and take ideas and suggestions to help reach certain targets I was aiming for. I think knowledge transfer and listening to other methods can really help sheep farmers, especially younger ones!
- The Government is currently exploring animal welfare in transport / live exports, due to pressure from the anti-farming lobby to ban live exports. What would you like to say to Michael Gove and his civil servants on this topic? Being an islander, live export is an essential part of our farming life. It keeps trade fair on the island, knowing that if they don’t achieve a satisfactory price the farmers here are not held to ransom. It gives opportunity for pedigree livestock to be added to the global gene pool and, on the flip side, importation of new genetics and seed stock is essential to breeding quality. This all brings in new money to the islands economy. As far as animal welfare goes, done professionally and correctly with five-star standard transporters there is no harm done to livestock and it’s in the farmers best interest to get his livestock to its destination in the best possible condition. Why anyone would cut corners is beyond me.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? Lambing time has to be the best time in sheep production. New life never gets old and knowing that a ewe was struggling and you helped her with a good outcome is biggest sense of pride and, in most cases, relief too! The worst part is selling sheep you’ve hand reared. Whether it be show stock or pet lambs, you always want the best homes for them. I think my girlie side comes out quite a bit at sale time!
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? The sheep have coped remarkably well, with lambs looking great and gaining weight nicely. On the other hand, I have been stressing and worrying for them as, if it is to continue, we will run into big problems later in the year.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? Be ready for change. Don’t have all your eggs in one basket. Diversify where possible.
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? We attend at Royal Highland and Great Yorkshire. I rather the GYS as the weather in July is normally a little better, it’s only three days so it’s not so long for livestock to be away from their normal environment, and their sheep shed is perfect for stock (really airy and cool).
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. We have five bitches. Mother and daughter Jip and Freckle are homebred especially for cattle work. We purchased two sisters, Percy (3) and Tilly (2), from Percy Tait’s stockman Will Price in Worcester. They’re an exceptional pair who can do all aspects of sheep work. One day they will talk, they’re so intelligent! Finally Nelly (1) from Northern Ireland. She’s mad as a box of frogs but seriously powerful with bags of talent, if we can get her steadied up. I don’t know how farmers manage without working dogs. I wouldn’t enjoy farming as much without them.
August
- How are you going to feed your stock this winter? Will you have to feed a higher number of concentrates due to the lack of roughage? Will you use fodder crops? The winter is going to be very hard with shortage of fodder in the form of hay or silage in particular. For us we feed very little of this to our sheep throughout the winter anyway, but always make just enough in case the snow comes, but even then we only have half of what we’d have in a normal year so far. But we have planted extra green crop for any later finishing lambs. I think the majority of people will cull exceptionally hard and maybe not keep as many replacements this year. The rain has finally come on the island and things are greening up. A lot of fertiliser has been spread trying to get last minute silage crops.
- How have you, or will you be preparing for tupping. How will you flush your ewes with so little grass available? Are your tups in yet? Tups are ready for action. It’s been a good summer for sheep seemingly, even with very little grass about. They’re in good condition and feet have been sound with the dry weather. We use slow release vit min boluses and (we believe) they keep them looking well with a natural bloom for longer. We always have a good amount of tups in case of injury or illness.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? Cups of tea, a good home comfort tea like mince and onion pie with mash and gravy, and a sit on the sofa before falling asleep 10 minutes later!
- What is your favourite lamb dish? I love a new one I found on holidays in Crete. Greek-style crispy rolled lamb breast with feta, mint potatoes and kos salad. Refreshing and delish.
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? We don’t use any chemicals on our grassland, only on weeds in the corn crops, as we don’t particularly like using them when stock are to eat the pasture shortly after. We only cut our hedges every second or third year, as we are a very windswept farm and get a lot of benefit from good, natural hedges especially at lambing time. Plus they’re good for blackberries, not just for pies and jams but the birds are about in abundance enjoying their fair share too.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? I really don’t like winter! October is probably our quieter month of the year, so earlier finishes, log fires and hopefully crisp dry days with stock ticking over nicely - the calm before the storm. Bringing cattle in for winter is never too far away at this time of year, and then it gets busy all over again!
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? We culled hard this year. With the shortage of fodder it’s too much of a risk to carry passengers so we have gone down the road of quality rather than quantity again. We may have to help a bit more at lambing time but quality seems to always find a market.
- If you weren’t a sheep farmer what would you be and why? A pathologist or detective; I love figuring things out!
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? The Texel, especially the showring ones. They develop attitudes and turn into complete tarts they know when to own it!
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? At the moment holding together the tups raddle harness, but literally it saves the day on so many occasions.
October
- Who is your farming hero? I believe every farmer enduring some of mother nature’s finest weather to produce food for our nation is not just a hero but a superhero!
- What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming? Quality rather than quantity when purchasing stock, attention to detail, and the old saying ‘Don’t put it off until tomorrow if you can do it today’. Your hard work will pay off and, although there will be many hurdles, don’t give up!
- The previous NSA Ambassador session visited British Wool, a timely visit as ‘Wool Week’ falls in October. What surprised or encouraged you about this visit? I was blown away at our visit to British Wool and scouring plant, the sheer scale of both operations and how well organised and run they were. Attention to environmental precautions were paramount throughout the whole process, especially at the factory with the cleaning, combing and discarding of waste water/sludge. They had huge investment in laboratory apparatus to monitor the chemicals found within the fleeces. It was absolutely fastening and certainly made us a lot more aware of the products we use on our sheep.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I think I’d really enjoy growing fruit trees or flowers. I love colour in the countryside and there’s nothing more satisfying than eating your own produce, or drinking it for that matter (wine!)
Final round of questions
- Of the farms you’ve visited during your year as an Ambassador, which would you like to live and work on and why – or, which farmer you have met would you like to work with and why? I really liked Deer Park Hall with Mark Steele. There was so much variety within his enterprise, covering really good niche markets, adding value to each of his products and no two days would be the same there.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and implemented on your farm since becoming an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Are you seeing any benefits from this already? The use of antibiotics has been reduced when working with our stock. After our first session we were still lambing at home and I was able to use different methods advised by Phillipa Page that worked to prevent joint ill.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. To be pay more attention to cost of production and get more benefits from grass crops.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? I see Zoey Symington relocating to the mainland and being the main coordinator and lamb buyer for stock from Shetland, exporting to the mainland onto a holding she has where she can grow them on, rather than selling them as light lambs on to a declining market.
- 2019 is just around the corner. Will you be making any new year’s resolutions for yourself personally or for your farm / place of work in 2019? To embrace more EID technology to make life easier than using soggy bits of paper!
- Brexit has been the top topic during your first year as an Ambassador. Where do you think the final negotiations will end up and will it be good for UK sheep farmers? I really don’t know, but I will remain positive whatever the outcome. We always need food and, if we focus on producing the best quality stock we can, I think it will always be wanted.
