The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2016 - Issue 43 | Page 27

Sheep NSA to give away £3,600 worth of prizes »»The National Sheep Association (NSA) has teamed up with three companies for its new membership recruitment campaign this year. FecpakG2, Cox Agri/Ritchey and JG Animal Health have each agreed to donate six £200 vouchers, one each for the bimonthly prize draw giveaways planned in 2016. New NSA members will be automatically entered into the giveaway when they join, while existing members will go in each time they recommend someone to sign up to NSA. There is no limit to the number of entries for existing members, so more recommendations means more chances to win. NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker says: “NSA is delighted to be able to offer these vouchers, and huge thanks are owed to the three respective companies involved. FecpakG2, Cox Agri/Ritchey and JG Animal Health have made this possible in generously donating £1,200 worth of vouchers each, to be given away throughout the membership recruitment giveaway. NSA’s aim is to use these offers to boost membership numbers, which will help in giving us a stronger and more effective voice as well as us to provide better support and services.” FecpakG2 supports producers who are looking to increase financial returns by decreasing drench costs, gaining a better understanding of which drenches will work best on their farm and reducing the impact of drench resistance. Cox Agri/Ritchey has built a reputation for the quality range of products it offers to livestock farmers, from handling and weighing equipment to eartags and animal health products. JG Animal Health works closely with pedigree and commercial breeders to identify and address reasons behind poor performance and under achievement of stock. Mr Stocker concludes: “All three companies work in areas NSA is keen to promote in order to improve health and efficiency of sheep flocks.” Six prize draws will be held every other month through the year, and each time winners are picked all non-winning entries will automatically roll over to the next draw. More information at: www. nationalsheep.org.uk/draw More than 60 young people with an interest in the sheep sector spent the day at Newton Rigg College »»More than 60 young people with an interest in the sheep sector spent an informative day at Newton Rigg College, Cumbria, arming themselves with information to get ahead in the industry. The event, organised jointly by the National Sheep Association (NSA) and Innovation for Agriculture (IfA), also saw the search start for a group of young enthusiasts to form the 2016 NSA Next Generation Ambassador Group. This is the third time that applications have been invited for NSA Ambassadors, offering the opportunity for up to 12 people to attend five training sessions through the year covering a wide range of sheep farming best practice, personal development and business skills. Ambassadors from both the 2014 and 2015 groups were among the strong attendance at the Newton Rigg event, joining other young people to hear a range of speakers and partake in technical workshops during Paul Rennison (left) describes his transition from farm manager to tenant to first-time farm owner, while Harry Frederick (right) uses special glasses to see the world through the eyes of a sheep at the stock handling workshop the day. Samuel Wharry, NSA Chairman, described his share farming venture in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, while Paul and Nic Rennison from Renwick, Cumbria, talked about their progression from farm manager to tenants to buying their first farm. The technical workshops covered everything from nutrition and genetics to sheep handling and lamb selection. Joanne Briggs delivers the NSA Next Generation project. She says: “It was great to see so many sheep enthusiasts taking part in the event and using the technical workshops to ask questions to benefit and develop their own businesses and careers. It was also the perfect occasion to start the process of finding young people for the 2016 NSA Next Generation Ambassador Group. The first two Ambassadors Groups have been hugely successful and we are very excited to open the opportunity to another intake.” Appl X