Young Surrey farmer wins final feeder in NSA prize draw

The potential to cut down on labour input using an Advantage 3in1 Feeder will not be wasted on Tom Daborn, winner of the last of six feeders on offer in the National Sheep Association’s (NSA) 2014 membership recruitment prize giveaway. Aged just 19, Tom balances the running of a small sheep enterprise with his training in veterinary medicine at the Royal Veterinary College, London.

Based in Chobham, Surrey, Tom and his father have built up their flock over the last decade, growing it from just six Suffolk ewes 10 years ago to their current stock of 18 pedigree Suffolk ewes and a small commercial flock of 30 Lleyns. The Lleyns are crossed with Suffolk rams to produce fast-growing lambs, but Tom’s real focus is on developing first rate tups. Tom says: “We really want to work on producing a top quality, high health status terminal sire that’s athletic and hardy, whilst maintaining the vigour and longevity the Suffolk breed already has.”

The Daborns’ enterprise runs over 70 acres, most of which is offered to them as grazing in return for maintenance of the pasture. Although Tom considers himself lucky to have secured this grazing, the land provides its own challenges. The ground is light and sandy, limiting options for improvement of the grassland. Much of the land is also unavailable in the summer months due to haymaking, and this is when Tom’s new Advantage 3in1 Feeder will come into its own. Tom says: “I look forward to using the 3in1 feeder to help finish lambs when we are short of pasture during haymaking. What excites me the most about the feeder is its ability to utilise feeds that would otherwise cause acidosis or bloat. I’m hoping that, in time, this might bring the feed bill down, as I can tailor the feed to the demands of the sheep more closely.”

3in1 feeders from Advantage Feeders give control over the amount of supplement stock consume. They can save time and money and reduce the health risks of feeding high corn-based diets.

Tom received membership of NSA as a Christmas gift in 2013, and feels that the information and support NSA provides will be invaluable in his career as a vet. He says: “As someone training to enter a profession very close to agriculture, I feel it’s important to keep in contact with the commercial end of the sheep sector. NSA is very good at providing an overview of the entire industry, which is good because there’s always something or someone to learn from that you otherwise wouldn’t have heard of.”

Tom is the final winner in NSA’s 2014 membership recruitment prize giveaway, which has seen a total of six lucky winners take home an Advantage 3in1 Feeder. A new recruitment campaign for 2015 has now been launched, offering new and existing NSA members the chance to win a Shearwell EID stick reader kit.

Find out more about the 2015 NSA recruitment prize giveaway and meet all the 2014 winners at www.nationalsheep.org.uk/draw.
  
Notes to editors:-

• For more information contact NSA Communications Manager Joanne Briggs on 07807 237982 or joanne@nationalsheep.org.uk.
• The National Sheep Association is an organisation that represents the views and interests of sheep producers throughout the UK. It is funded by its membership of sheep farmers and its activities involve it in every aspect of the sheep industry. More at www.nationalsheep.org.uk and www.nsanextgeneration.org.uk.