About Jane 

Jane Moorhouse is a Farm SQP working at Hird & Partners LLP, Halifax in West Yorkshire. Although she qualified in February 2020, she has worked for Hird & Partners for 11 years.

She said: “I was amazed to win the award. Once the shock had worn off, I was absolutely over the moon. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, celebrations were limited, so rather than going out to celebrate, I stayed at home, finished a bottle of Prosecco and updated all my friends and family via phone and social media.”

Since becoming an SQP, Jane has set up a practice page on Facebook to promote animal health. When Jane obtained Level 1 at Bimeda’s Sheep Scab Academy, she posted Bimeda’s animated video about sheep scab so that clients could watch and encourage them to discuss any queries they may have had.

Since qualifying, she has mainly dealt with sheep scab and worming for sheep.

“The main challenges with both of these issues is resistance to treatment,” she said. “I ensure the client has had a diagnosis, then discuss treatment options that would be suitable for their particular situation and take withdrawal periods into consideration.

“I stress how important it is to administer the correct dosage, by checking the weight of the animal being treated, checking the correct method of administration is used and that any equipment used is calibrated regularly.”

Jane added: “I am lucky that I am surrounded by veterinary surgeons who can firstly diagnose, then refer, clients to me to advise on an appropriate treatment regime.

“Also, if I am discussing an issue with a client which I am unable to advise on, due to being out of my remit I can quickly ask a vet to contact the client to advise. This system works smoothly and ensures advice is given quickly and correctly to aid in the health and wellbeing of the animal in question.”

Due to the pandemic, Jane had to cancel farmers’ meetings she had planned.

“Previous meetings that I have organised have covered mastitis, fluid therapy, BVD, sheep abortion, lameness, lambing, selective dry cow therapy, fertility and responsible use of medicines.” 

Jane said one of her aims is to undertake training to conduct in-house worm egg counts. 

She said: “This will aid in reducing the cost, therefore encouraging more Yorkshire farmers to submit samples for testing. 

“It will also decrease the length of time from sampling to reporting results, enabling me to supply an appropriate treatment, if required. This will in turn increase the health and profitability of the animals I am advising for. 

“I have a wide range of knowledge of farm animals and I am trusted by my colleagues to advise on different aspects of care. The vets I work with all have confidence in me and regularly direct clients to me for advice.”