Sheep SW

[General-Lee]

Think I saved over 50 times the entry fee on one bit of kit I wanted talk about and order, plus given some good info on another pending purchase that could save best part of a grand, not a bad day at the office.

But yes, bloody hot!!

Come on don't leave us hanging?

 

[Jerry]

Come on don't leave us hanging?

Nothing too exciting I'm afraid. Been pricing up toppers with a few local dealers, Fry's beat the best quote by some margin yesterday.

And comparing mobile handling systems, guy on Rappa stand very helpful as I'm hoping to get a LEADER grant to help fund it.

And then talking to CLA man about current discounts on HiIlux. Currently advertised at 16%. But he made a call and said its due to go up to 17% shortly. That bit of info was worth £600 alone.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

That would be some of the reasons that it didn't go well but the general feeling is that it wasn't worth the entry fee for what was on offer.

Needs a revamp for future years is the tone I get ( rightly or wrongly )

Wrongly I'd say.
I know I didn't have to pay as a NSA member but what do you get for £12 these days?
What's not to like? All the relevant stuff for a sheep farmer in one place. Far better than a general ag show.

Personally I was able to talk to and glean info from a variety of sources that I needed.

Definitely not as well attended as other years which perhaps didn't help the feel of the day, but for someone wanting to spend time talking to reps etc that just meant it was easier to do so.

Far too hot for my liking but can't help that. Marquees would have been worse with more people.

 

[General-Lee]

Nothing too exciting I'm afraid. Been pricing up toppers with a few local dealers, Fry's beat the best quote by some margin yesterday.

And comparing mobile handling systems, guy on Rappa stand very helpful as I'm hoping to get a LEADER grant to help fund it.

And then talking to CLA man about current discounts on HiIlux. Currently advertised at 16%. But he made a call and said its due to go up to 17% shortly. That bit of info was worth £600 alone.

Struggle to beat Frys for stuff like that!

 

[Jerry]

Struggle to beat Frys for stuff like that!

Yep. I priced a Ritchie electronic weigh scale with them as well. Ritchie rep was standing next to me......he had to bite his lip a bit as price was very keen!

 

[Tim W]

That would be some of the reasons that it didn't go well but the general feeling is that it wasn't worth the entry fee for what was on offer.

Needs a revamp for future years is the tone I get ( rightly or wrongly )

You would have got your value for money @gone up the hill ---AHDB had a stand so you could have put them right & there were even a couple of NFU guys wandering around that needed educating ....plus some of the farm assurance people of course ----you could have met all the TFF's at the Exlana stand and compared your COP figures with the EBLEX averages
As I understand it the £12 entry fee covers the event costs and covers the NSA SW region running expenses. I actually got a chance to look around this time as we had lots of help on the stand and I thought that it was a good event with plenty to see and do
It will and should constantly evolve ---personally I would like to see more debates/seminars/question & answer sessions as it is an ideal opportunity for this kind of thing

I met some new faces and put faces to ''cyber-names'' all in all a good day

 

[DKnD]

Yeah, 12 quid ain't bad considering! Would've stayed a lot longer if it wasn't so hot. Maybe I should've tried for a free ice cream instead of slyly eying up these fabled exlana thingys! Can't think what else you could expect really, certainly more than I was expecting!

 

[Keepers]

Signed up for the free tup I'm awaiting the delivery

 

[llamedos]

I think the NSA shows are some of the best that Ag has to offer.

All the relevant kit on one site, excellent discussions/debates/seminars, get the chance to speak with like minded folk, the majority of those who have stands are welcoming and want to speak to everyone.

Sometimes I wish they were 2 day events, simply never enough hours in the day to get to see the stands and attend debates and seminars.

 

[yellowbelly]

I think the NSA shows are some of the best that Ag has to offer.

^^^ +1
I thought the national one at Malvern last year was very informative. I agree it's a lot to get round in one day but it's difficult for 'one man bands' to be able to do two days.

 

[llamedos]

^^^ +1
I thought the national one at Malvern last year was very informative. I agree it's a lot to get round in one day but it's difficult for 'one man bands' to be able to do two days.

Yes, I really enjoy Malvern, a long way for us to travel, but certainly worth it.

 

[CornishLleyn]

That would be some of the reasons that it didn't go well but the general feeling is that it wasn't worth the entry fee for what was on offer.

Needs a revamp for future years is the tone I get ( rightly or wrongly )

Not worried about the entry fee as we're NSA members, but we also went to Welsh sheep this year and thought that was a lot better, despite the rain (although I prefer rain to yesterday's heat).

It didn't have the feel of an NSA event to be honest, apologies to the Disneys but it wasn't a very interesting farm, no farm tours, none of their stock around, and it just felt a bit like a trade day that could have been anywhere.

We baled out around 1230, which is a shame as I was interested in buying a dog but in that heat I didn't feel they'd be performing true to normal form.

All in all, a bit of a missed opportunity I think.

 

[CornishLleyn]

Nothing too exciting I'm afraid. Been pricing up toppers with a few local dealers, Fry's beat the best quote by some margin yesterday.

And comparing mobile handling systems, guy on Rappa stand very helpful as I'm hoping to get a LEADER grant to help fund it.

And then talking to CLA man about current discounts on HiIlux. Currently advertised at 16%. But he made a call and said its due to go up to 17% shortly. That bit of info was worth £600 alone.

Mark at Rappa is an excellent chap, always worth a talk to.

The really interesting stand for us was the Performance Lleyns stand, I think we'll be heading down there for a ram or two soon.

 

[Jerry]

Mark at Rappa is an excellent chap, always worth a talk to.

The really interesting stand for us was the Performance Lleyns stand, I think we'll be heading down there for a ram or two soon.

I bought one of his rams last year. Very pleased with him.

Peregrine is a real character but knows what his doing.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Not worried about the entry fee as we're NSA members, but we also went to Welsh sheep this year and thought that was a lot better, despite the rain (although I prefer rain to yesterday's heat).

It didn't have the feel of an NSA event to be honest, apologies to the Disneys but it wasn't a very interesting farm, no farm tours, none of their stock around, and it just felt a bit like a trade day that could have been anywhere.

We baled out around 1230, which is a shame as I was interested in buying a dog but in that heat I didn't feel they'd be performing true to normal form.

All in all, a bit of a missed opportunity I think.

Yes I will agree I was surprised there were no farm tours, though I don't normally go on them anyway. The Disney's are involved with the Exlanas and it's where they held the Exlana ram sale last year (and going to this).

 

[CornishLleyn]

I bought one of his rams last year. Very pleased with him.

Peregrine is a real character but knows what his doing.

Thanks, good to know. I was very impressed with his Signet scores, and that's what really counts for us.

 

[Jerry]

Thanks, good to know. I was very impressed with his Signet scores, and that's what really counts for us.

Yep. Agree.

I went down and he got 30plus shearling rams in for me to choose from that were all unrelated to a previous ram of mine as we went through a lot of info over the phone first.

I think it took me about 2 hours to settle in a ram that fitted my criteria but Peregrine could not have been more helpful

 

[easyram1]

I bought one of his rams last year. Very pleased with him.

Peregrine is a real character but knows what his doing.

He is a real star and as honest as the day is long. Even his neighbour who has been buying off him for years says that he is too honest for his own good Obsessed about figs and has a really deep knowledge not only of his sheep but how the figs are calculated by Signet etc.

 

[neilo]

So....... did any of you manage to get @Tim W to dig deep for ice creams all round, or not?

Those of us from further afield need to know if a precedent has been set.

 

[gone up the hill]

Not worried about the entry fee as we're NSA members, but we also went to Welsh sheep this year and thought that was a lot better, despite the rain (although I prefer rain to yesterday's heat).

It didn't have the feel of an NSA event to be honest, apologies to the Disneys but it wasn't a very interesting farm, no farm tours, none of their stock around, and it just felt a bit like a trade day that could have been anywhere.

We baled out around 1230, which is a shame as I was interested in buying a dog but in that heat I didn't feel they'd be performing true to normal form.

All in all, a bit of a missed opportunity I think.

Ideal location but wrong farm, the Disney's only farm part time with a few sheep and most of the land is share farmed with a local contractor ( arable ) now as their converted farm barns into offices is their main income source.

Have to say that for every 10 comments ( other than on here ) about yesterday 9 out of 10 are negative.

Heat yesterday didn't help but clear that the current format used this year isn't working.