"The trip of a lifetime", was how Alex Mackellar described her visit to New Zealand after she won the educational grant supported by Novartis Animal Health and the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs.
Alex spent three weeks working on sheep and cattle stations on New Zealand’s South Island, and brought back with her a wealth of experience about farming methods and the skills needed to run the country’s vast livestock concerns.
She began by accompanying a vet visiting farms in the Darfield and Kirwee areas, west of Christchurch, health-checking rams to ready them for market.
By the third day she had started at the 16,000 acre Rainbow Station where the hard work began for real and found herself waist-deep in water helping cattle cross a river in the snow.
Alex then spent some time sightseeing with a visit to New Zealand’s highest peak, Mount Cook, and then went on to Haldon Station, five hours journey south of Christchurch. Haldon is a sheep, beef and deer farm of more than 55,000 acres, with Merinos, pedigree Hereford and Angus stud.
She said that with the Merinos, because of the wrinkles in their skin which hold sweat and the thickness of the wool and its value, extra care had to be taken to protect from flystrike. "I know from home we need to protect our stock even before flies are in the area, and it was good to see there is no difference in New Zealand, welfare is top of the list," she said.
"I think a trip of this kind is much more interesting than going somewhere as a tourist. You get to experience New Zealand as a New Zealander, so you get things from a different perspective," she said.
Alex, who works on her parents’ farm in Chartley, near Stafford, saw the scholarship advertised through the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs newsletter. She submitted her 1,000 word essay on why she wanted to apply, was short-listed and interviewed.
"My advice for anyone thinking of applying is to go for it. If you don’t try for it, you won’t know if you have a chance, "she said.
"The trip was a fascinating experience and something I will never forget. I’ve learned a lot about my work, the way the animals are looked after, and the medicines used to treat animals. But I suppose most of all I’ve learnt about myself," she said.
Alex is engaging in a series of talks to farmers and discussion groups in her area, and will be submitting a 2,000 word report on parasite control and anthelmintic resistance in the New Zealand sheep industry to Novartis Animal Health and the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs.
James Crawford, of Novartis Animal Health, said: "The educational grant encourages new and much-needed young people into the sheep industry, while at the same time providing an opportunity for UK sheep producers to learn, through Alex’s experiences, more about how they can better control parasites on farm."
