Whilst fully committed to my own farm and its future, I also offer on-farm advice on sheep management and general farm business to individual farmers. In addition I have represented and advised numerous bodies within the sheep industry over the years, including;
- Chair of SCOPS (Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep)
- Chair of English Sheep Health and Welfare Group (SHWG)
- Chair of Premier Suffolk Breeders
- Chair of Health and Welfare Committee of NSA
- Member of Biosciences KTN Research and Development Committee
- Member of FAnGR NSC
- Member of SAC Consultative Committee on Profitable and Sustainable Agriculture
- Member of MSW (Meat South West)
- Member of Premier Suffolk Breeders (previously the Suffolk Sire Reference Scheme),
- Sheep Improved Genetics (SIG).We also regularly host discussion days and farm walks on the farm.
..and was delighted to be selected to attend the Rural Leadership Programme organised by the Worshipful Fellowship of Farmers in association with Duchy College, University of Plymouth . I am also thrilled and honoured to have been a previous holder of the prestigious Farmer’s Weekly Sheep Farmer of the Year award.
I regularly present on specific topics including;
Use and Applications for EID, EDBs and EDT in a Progressive Sheep Industry.
Demonstration on the Integration of Performance Recording and Use of EID and EDBs in Sheep Production.
The Alberta Lamb Traceability Project
Use and Applications for EID and EDBs in Practical Sheep Farming Businesses.
Industry Positions Previously Held (National):
- National Chairman NSA (2002-2006)
- Chair of SAMB (Semen Archive Management Board)
- Chair of GB Industry Steering Group on proposed Sheep Scab Eradication Program
- Chair of Defra Sheep Health Planning Steering Group
- Member of SAC Hill Sheep Project Stakeholders Group (Discussing the potential use of CT in Hill Sheep Breeding)
- Member of Defra Sheep and Goats TSEs Stakeholder Group
- Member of Scrapie Information Group & High Level TSE Steering Group.
- Member of Signet Sheep Breeder Advisory Group
- Invited member of MLC ˜Think Tank Group Brief to produce advisory leaflet to the sheep industry (Seeing the Winter Through)
Industry Positions Previously Held (Regional):
- Member of Lloyd Maunder Producer Group
- Chairman NSA South West Regional Committee (1998 2002)
- Member of local NFU LFA Forum
- Member of Cornish Red Meat Study Group
- I have participated in the South West Livestock Project, the Parasol Project, and various other on-farm trials for commercial companies.
Formal Speaking Engagements have included;
- Sheep Breeder Round Table ( Breeding for Scrapie Resistance)
- Launch of the Defra Animal Health & Welfare Strategy, ( SCOPS)
- Defra TSE Stakeholder Group ( Dealing with Scrapie)
- SVS CPD Conference (Sheep Scab)
- Great Britain Animal Health and Welfare Strategy Conference (SCOPS)
- Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference (Scrapie)
- SVS CPD Conference (Farm Health Planning)
- Sheep Breeders Round Table ( Sheep Breeding)
- Alberta Sheep Symposium (Parasite Control Strategies & Sheep Breeding)
- Canadian Sheep Federation ( Electronic Recording Systems and Performance Recording)
- HCC & Eblex (Profitable sheep production training days)
- EIG ( Report to EIG as Chair of SHWC)
Immediately after graduating, I became a Dairy Cattle specialist with ADAS, advising on breeding and general management of dairy cows. The MSc in Beef Production from Newcastle University was a research project. The work focused on the effects of breed and management on profitability of beef production systems and the commercial value of beef carcasses using bull calves from the dairy herd, following the introduction of the Canadian Holstein.
Before opting to go farming, I spent 3 years on a world study tour including New Zealand, Australia, and parts of South America and South East Asia.