NSA Lambing List ‘go to’ place to find student lambing help

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has recently opened the portal to its Lambing List, a system that operates annually to partner up farmers with willing agricultural and veterinary students to help out during the busy lambing season.

The service has become increasingly relied upon by many farmers, freeing them up in what is one of the busiest and most stressful times of the year.

For students, the list offers the opportunity to gain practical experience, which is often a mandatory part of their studies.

See also: 8 ways to prepare for a busy lambing season

NSA spokeswoman Katie James says: “Recent years have seen the numbers of both farmers and students using the Lambing List increase substantially, meaning it is now considered the ‘go to’ place for those requiring extra help or seeking vital work experience.

“It is a simple process that can help sheep farmers prepare for their busiest time, while also encouraging agriculture’s next generation and the allied veterinary industry.”

A helping hand

A sheep producer who has used the NSA list before is Cotswolds livestock farmer Pauhla Whitaker, who lambs around 350 ewes each season.

She has used the Lambing List for more than six years, hosting a range of students each season.

“We really try, particularly with those that are going on to become vets, to show them every element of what goes on.

“They need to learn about farming systems and their inner workings,” Pauhla explains.

“There are conversations that you have while penning or lambing a ewe, and we try to cover an awful lot and give them a picture of everything that is involved with lambing, from the point that the ewe comes into the shed from the field, to the point where we turn them back out with their lambs at foot, and what happens afterwards.”

Without a full-time worker on the farm, Pauhla says that using the list to find student help has been vital throughout the lambing period.

“They get to do a bit of everything, from the really boring mundane, but necessary stuff like mucking out lambing pens, right through to having a go at lambing ewes, and giving any treatments.

“A lot of second-year vet students come to us and they have never given an injection, so it’s things like this that are really important for them to learn.”

Next generation

“While it is definitely help for us, it is also about training the next generation, whether they are going to be vets or farmworkers,” says Pauhla.

Offering vital opportunities for practical learning, Pauhla explains that students on lambing placements can leave with a vital understanding of the industry within which they may work.

“Time and time again we hear from the students that they don’t get enough opportunities for hands-on experience.

“They need to understand their industry, and they need to be able to see all of this so that they have confidence in themselves as professionals.”