STORE staff at Holsworthy’s Mole Valley Farmers were delighted when one of their colleagues received an award recently.

Sammy Mitchell, who works at the Holsworthy store, received a national award at the ‘OverTheCounter Awards’ at The Conrad Hotel in London.

Sammy was ‘Highly Commended’ in the ‘Newly Qualified SQP of the Year’ category.

The annual SQP (Specially Qualified Person) awards recognises excellence and best business practice within the animal health and welfare sector.

Sammy said: “I was totally shocked to even be shortlisted, but then to go to London and receive second place, was amazing. The whole event was really special. Firstly the venue, which was in the very swanky St James’ area of London. Altogether it was a bit of a whirl and definitely a day I will remember for years to come.

“My main customers at Holsworthy are farmers. For a relatively small store we have a lot of dairy, beef and sheep locally. We recently carried out some research and discovered there are 208 dairy herds, each with an average of 193, so around 40,234 cows in total! Overall, my major concern is anthelmintic resistance. Very few of my customers know whether they have a problem with resistance, so I try and encourage faecal egg counts before and after worming.

“Every farmer’s scenario is different, so I make sure I ask all the questions necessary before prescribing a product. I am very aware of resistance in drug groups, so I always advise customers to change groups where possible. Under dosing can also add to resistance and so weighing livestock before dosing is essential.”