en en en en ru en en en en en en en en en da en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en id en en en en en en en en en da en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en da en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en id en en en en en en en en en da en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en tr en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en el en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en ca en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en es es es en en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en tr en en en en en en en en en tr en en en en en en en en en en en nl en en en fa en en pt en en en nb en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en tr en en
Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.
Help calves in warm weather, the cost benefits of maintaining good foot trimming protocols and an opportunity for progressive dairy herds.  September client event dates are launched with dairy topics including Digital Dermatitis, Mastitis – Drying Off Cows to Maximise Success along with our plans for farm visits to organic and large flocks with the sheep team.
Management of Calves in Hot Weather
As I write this article towards the middle of July, all we are talking about is the weather! Incredibly hot and humid spells appear to be coming more and more frequent with the changing climate. The increased temperatures bring their challenges for all sorts of reasons and one of these is the management of our calves in hot weather. We often talk about heat stress in dairy cattle and are aware of this, but we should also consider the affect these hot and humid days have on our calves.
Upper and Lower Critical Temperatures – what are they?
Calves will aim to maintain their core body temperature between 10°C and 22°C. Either side of this range the calf will use energy to restore body temperature back to their target range which is known as the thermoneutral zone. The thresholds of the range are known as the upper and lower critical temperatures. When a calf reaches the upper or lower critical temperature, they will be diverting energy that could have been otherwise used for growth and immunity to increase or decrease their core temperature. The thermoneutral range will vary slightly depending on the age of the calf and will be affected by wind speeds and humidity. Above 25°C calves will be at risk of heat stress.
Top tips for managing calves in hot weather
Calves that are suffering from heat stress will be lethargic and have increased respiratory rates. They will also have a reduced milk and feed intake, affecting growth rates again. During times of abnormally warm weather there are several things you can do to help your calves through the heat.
Firstly, ensure you are monitoring what the temperature is at calf level. Consider getting a thermometer and monitoring around pens or if using hutches ensure you know what the temperature is reaching inside hutches. If hutches are sited on unshaded concrete, check if heat is reflecting off concrete yards.  Consider providing shade to the pen outside the hutch to allow calves to shelter from the sun whilst maintaining maximum ventilation, or move hutches temporarily into an empty building. With different ventilation the temperature can vary in housing. Think about if you can improve ventilation without causing draughts.
It is also important to ensure the calves have access to plenty of water and that this is being changed frequently to ensure it is as cool as possible, try to keep the water out of direct sunlight. Consider reducing the stocking rate as high stocking rates will cause increase in temperature inside buildings and sheds and may make it difficult for calves to get access to water.
Shade should be provided so calves can escape the heat of direct sunlight. Any management plans such as vaccinating or fly treatment should be rearranged to reduce the chance of heat stress. If they are absolutely vital speak to your vet for further advise on how to manage on the day but plan to do any movement during the coolest parts of the day.
With the warm weather will also come flies which should be managed to prevent diseases such as New Forest Eye. Speak to your routine vet at your Herd Health Plan about the best way to manage flies on your farm either through spot on products, or consider use of friendly flies, parasitic wasps that aim to minimise the fly population on farm.
Our July Newsletter; including seasonal articles by our vets and vet techs, news from your area, medicines updates and more.
Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.
Beef Suckler Walk at Box Farm a great success
Hosted by Mark and Jane Melly, the sun shone as we toured on a customised trailer, taking in beautiful scenery. We visited groups of suckler cows with spring born calves at foot, mob grazing on herbal leys or set stocking on permanent pasture, discussed the pros and cons of each system. Mark’s pedigree Sussex herd take advantage of more marginal parts of the farm, including an iron age hill fort, as well as a commercial Angus herd. Subjects discussed were age of first calving for heifers, tick control and calf growth. Our vets presented interesting data on calf growth analysis and the group discussed potential opportunities for maximising growth rates over the winter.
Keep a tight calving pattern to maximise potential for calf growth post weaning
Weigh animals and analyse data to know how animals are actually performing – it may be different to what you expect!
Tim Mallett, Beef Suckler Farmer commented “It was very informative to visit, Mark is using Mob grazing of herbal Leys, ‘alternate’ grazing of legume rich herbal leys and ‘traditional’ stocking of permanent pasture, including an ancient monument. While many can discuss each of these methods it was beneficial to be able to with one manager running all these systems. The farmer lead discussion following the farm tour covered many subjects from disease control to data analysis, with very useful input from other attendees with direct knowledge of the subjects. These meetings are very informative, with the ability to discuss with farmers directly involved in the subject adding to the experience.”
Synergy are on the moove!
We are very excited to inform all of our clients that Synergy is moving on Monday 4th July… but not far!!!
Synergy has been based at Evershot since it was founded in 2009 and the buildings have served us well. However, as the business has developed we feel we need an updated location for our staff to work from. From 4th July we will be moving just under 3 miles up the road, to the old BBC transmitting station on Rampisham Downs. After many years lying dormant, the building has been purchased by a local developer and we will be taking up residency in one part of the building. We hope that this will give us enhanced facilities for our staff as well as for any clients that need to visit the practice for training and meetings. We have been fortunate to have been involved in the design of the new development so we hope we will have a fitting building to see us through the next 10 to 20 years of Synergy’s journey!
We hope there will be as little disruption as possible during the move, all contact numbers for the business will remain the same. We very much hope we might get the opportunity to have an open evening later in the Autumn to show clients around the new premises.
Our new premises as of Monday 4th July:
Synergy Farm Health Ltd
Posted byHayley BoylandJune 14, 2022June 28, 2022Posted inLatest News
Bumper Newsletter Summer 2022
Our quarterly bumper newsletter, including Dairy, Beef, Sheep and Dispensary News.
To view or download
Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.
Posted byHayley BoylandJune 9, 2022September 8, 2022Posted inNewsletter
Spring Calving and Lambing Reflection
As I write this, we are in the midst of a busy few weeks of Spring lambing and calving. It’s been great to get on farm and see some immaculate calving pens, highly organised lambing sheds and keenly motivated teams. Hopefully things have mostly gone well, but there have been some challenges and difficulties and I am sure everyone can think of at least one area for improvement next year. As lambs are turned out to grass and calf growth rates start to fly, it is important to also reflect on the neonatal period while it is fresh in your mind. What did you do really well this year? What would you change? How many lambs or calves were expected, and how many were actually born alive? How many losses were there in the first 24 hours, or the first 3 weeks?
In the UK an average of 10% of lambs and 7% of calves don’t survive beyond 3 weeks. With narrow margins for profitability in beef and sheep, making small changes to improve neonatal survival can have huge economic benefits, as well improving animal welfare, not to mention increasing job satisfaction!
Any data you can record on the computer, or jot down, will help your vet to advise you when we come out to do your health plan review. Most of you will be familiar with the data collection forms we now ask you to complete prior to your health plan visit. How many calves were turned out to grass? How many lambs were there at the time of the first drench, or the 8 week-weighing session? What youngstock treatments were given and why? This sort of information can help us to know what areas are best to target for improvement. We can look at trends on your farm over the years and compare with similar herds and flocks at Synergy (anonymously of course) and your own specific targets.
Keeping good records also helps when it comes to selecting females for breeding – ewes or cows that have suffered vaginal prolapses should not be bred again; and avoid keeping replacements from females that required assistance at birth or failed to rear their young. Ease of calving/lambing, and litter size, are highly heritable traits that have a huge impact on survival. Likewise, rams and bulls should be selected to minimise dystocia and improve neonatal survival – estimated breeding values (EBVs) are invaluable for this. Next year’s success starts with appropriate breeding decisions this year.
Other important measures we can take throughout the production cycle to increase neonatal survival include vaccinations (particularly BVD, IBR and leptospirosis in cattle; toxoplasmosis and Enzootic abortion in sheep); liver fluke control; and ensuring optimum nutrition and body condition of breeding females throughout the year.
Synergy Farm Health was recently involved in a project with AHDB and University of Edinburgh to develop a Target Survival Plan for beef and sheep. The plan aims to help structure conversations around neonatal survival and identify key critical control points. Get in touch with any Team Beef or Team Sheep vet for more information, to share the data you have collated and to book your next health plan review.
Bella Lowis – Synergy Farm Health, Veterinary Surgeon
Posted byHayley BoylandMay 10, 2022Posted inArticleTags: Beef, Calving, Lambing, Sheep, spring
Our May Newsletter; including seasonal articles by our vets and vet techs, news from your area, medicines updates and more.
To view or download
Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.
Posted byHayley BoylandMay 10, 2022May 10, 2022Posted inNewsletter
Reduce stress when TB Testing
Six month testing is in full swing and each test seems to come around so quickly. TB testing can be stressful for both the cattle, and everyone involved. You don’t have to have new high tech handling systems for the test to run smoothly and safely. I have not yet seen a perfect handling system for TB testing (I don’t think it exists) but you can make small changes to ensure that the handling system is fit for purpose:
All hands-on deck; having enough help for TB testing helps keep the cattle flowing
Understanding and working with natural behaviours can help during handling. A good example of this is the Bud Box which is based on the cattle’s desire to return the way they have come from. As you can see from the diagram, as the cattle turn to return from where it has come, the exit is up the race, remember size matters
Where possible, use solid barriers rather than gates help the cattle to move through the race more smoothly (this can be more difficult with mobile set ups)
Make sure the race and holding pen is high enough, ideally around 1.6m to avoid cattle trying to jump out
Cows hate slipping and sliding. By ensuring the race is clean, scraped/washed down regularly during the test, reduces the risk of the cattle slipping. Putting sand down can also help the cattle under foot. Taking a few minutes to do this really helps, it also helps everyone stay a little cleaner which is a bonus.
We all know that sometimes you can have the best system in the world and the cattle can still be wild and stressed. Therefore a good, well-maintained, crush with a yoke helps keep everyone involved safe and usually gets the job done.
Implementing small changes will hopefully lead to a less stressful day for the cows, handlers and a happy TB tester.
Charlotte Pasrons – Synergy Farm Health, Approved Tuberculin Tester (ATT)
Posted byHayley BoylandApril 12, 2022Posted inArticleTags: Beef, Bovine TB, cattle stress, Dairy, race, TB
1 2 3 … 10 Older posts
Synergy Farm Health Ltd,
Rampisham Business Centre, Rampisham Down,
Monday – Friday: 8.00am – 5.30pm
Saturday: 8.30am – 12.00pm
For all queries and urgent calls out of these hours please telephone 01935 83682
Sign up to our newsletter
© 2022 Synergy Farm Health Ltd | Registered in England No: 06903100 | VAT: 979 3922 55
Registered at above address
Website Designed By Four Elements Design
Nim Panesar BVetMed MRCVS
Nim graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2018 and spent three years working in predominantly dairy practice on the North Devon/Cornwall border. She has recently relocated to the Salisbury area to join Synergy’s expanding East team, and also to be closer to family in Berkshire. Her main clinical interest is fertility work and working to improve herd reproductive performance. She also enjoys surgical cases.  Nim is currently working towards the CertAVP in Cattle Health.
Imogen Rogers BVetMed PGDip MRCVS
Imogen graduated in 2019, and then completed the well established RVC/Synergy Farm Health internship. Imogen has a particular interest in sheep medicine, smallholder education and youngstock.
Louise Silk MA VetMB MRCVS
Louise graduated in 2007 and has spent her whole career working in farm animal practice in Dorset and Wiltshire. Louise has a particular interest in flock health and suckler herd production. Louise enjoys delivering farmer training as well as facilitating discussion group meetings, particularly for the suckler herds of Salisbury plain.
Graeme McPherson BVSc DBR MRCVS
Graeme graduated in 1994 and worked in his native Australia before moving to the UK as a farm animal vet, first in Oxfordshire and now at Synergy Farm Health. Graeme is a qualified AHDB mastitis control plan deliverer and completed his Diploma in Bovine Reproduction in 2020. Graeme has varied clinical interests relating to dairy herd health and productivity, as well as considerable experience in camelid medicine.  Graeme is the North Regional Lead vet and a shareholder in the practice.
Rachel Hayton BSc (Vet Sci) BVM&S Cert CHP MRCVS
Advanced Practitioner in Cattle Health and Production
Rachel graduated in 1993 and obtained her Certificate in Cattle Health and Production in 1998.  Rachel joined Southfield Veterinary Centre in 1995 which became Synergy Farm Health in 2009.   Rachel focuses on performing routine fertility visits for dairy clients, looking after all aspects of herd health.  Rachel is also one of Synergy’s lead mastitis vets, enjoying carrying out mastitis investigations into challenging situations on farm.  She is a trained AHDB Mastitis Control Plan deliverer.  Rachel became a shareholder in the practice in 2018.
Alastair Hayton BVMS DCHP MRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Cattle Health and Production
Alastair qualified in 1993 and has worked in farm animal practice in the south west throughout his career.  Alastair gained the RCVS Diploma in Cattle Health and Production in 2003 and became an RCVS specialist in 2011. He is a member of the Nottingham University Dairy Herd Health Group and in 2015 was voted Farmers Weekly Farm Advisor of the Year.  Alastair’s areas of particular interest include nutrition, mastitis, camelid medicine and organic dairy production. Alastair performs a large amount of consultancy work throughout the veterinary and food production sectors, including expert witness legal work.  Alastair is the veterinary consultant to one of the UK’s largest supermarket milk pools.
Alastair is heavily involved in the research and development of the novel Enferplex bTB test through Surefarm Ltd.
Charlotte Debbaut DVM MRCVS
Charlotte qualified in 2012 in her native Belgium and has spent most of her career working in various farm animal practices across the UK. Charlotte joined Synergy Farm Health in 2020. She is especially interested in dairy cow medicine, including youngstock health and productivity. Charlotte is also a CowSignals Master trainer.
Tom Angel BVetMed MRCVS
Tom graduated in 2019 and joined Synergy full time after completing the well established RVC/Synergy Farm Health internship.  Tom is interested in all aspects of farm animal practice, in particular dairy herd preventative medicine, and also enjoys surgical cases.
Ed Powell-Jackson MA VetMB MRCVS
Ed qualified in 2006 and has spent his whole career working in farm animal practice at Synergy Farm Health, and prior to that at Kingfisher Veterinary Practice. Ed is interested in all aspects of bovine health, in particular infectious disease control and robotic dairy units, and provides veterinary care to some of the highest performing robotic dairy herds in the UK.  Ed runs Synergy’s discussion group for dairy farmers on the Blackdown Hills and is also a qualified AHDB mastitis control plan deliverer.  Ed became a shareholder in the practice in 2013.  In addition to his clinical work Ed has various other senior roles at Synergy, including spending a number of years as west regional lead, whilst now having responsibilities in finance and leading the marketing of the practice.
Tom Shardlow BVSc MRCVS
Tom graduated in 2007 and has spent the majority of his career working in farm animal practice in Dorset. Tom is particularly interested in youngstock health and improving dairy heifer performance, and as the leader of our Youngstock team advises farmers on building design, preventive healthcare and nutrition across the practice. Tom became a shareholder in the practice in 2018.
Esme Moffett BVMS DBR MRCVS
Esme qualified in 2009 and has worked in farm animal practice throughout her career, both in the UK and in New Zealand.  Esme has particular interests in bovine fertility and completed the prestigious Diploma in Bovine Reproduction in 2020.  She is also interested in dairy youngstock and calf rearing and delivers consultancy in this area to a number of clients.  Esme became a shareholder in the practice in 2019.
Alasdair Moffett BVMS MSc MRCVS
Alasdair qualified in 2008 and has worked in farm animal veterinary practices within the UK, and in New Zealand. He recently completed a diploma in International Animal Health, where he focused on disease costing and modeling (particularly bovine TB) and a ‘One Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance. Alasdair is particularly motivated by striving to improve efficiency in the medium sized family dairy enterprises of the practice. Alasdair became a shareholder in the practice in 2019.
Gareth Foden BVetMed Cert AVP MRCVS
Gareth qualified in 2011 and is interested in a wide range of farm animal veterinary work particularly cattle lameness, fertility and surgery, and likes the practical approach to health planning on farm. Gareth is a key member of the Cattle Lameness Academy team and continues to develop a specialism in this area.  Gareth is the West region lead vet and became a shareholder in the practice in 2019.
Clare Eames BVSc MRCVS
Clare qualified in 2001 and has had a varied career working in farm animal practice, as a consultant for ADAS and as a technical vet for Pfizer Animal Health.  Clare is particularly interested in beef and small ruminants and enjoys teaching the beef module of the RVC student rotation.
Keith Cutler BSc BVSc DipECBHM MRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Cattle Health and Production
Keith graduated in 1990 and joined Synergy Farm Health in 2020, having worked in the Salisbury area for over 25 years running the farm animal division of Endell Veterinary Group. Keith has varied clinical interests which include both dairy and suckler herd management, fertility, lameness and infectious disease control in cattle. Keith is a Diplomate of the European College of Bovine Health Management and a Director of CHeCS (Cattle Health Certification Standards) who oversee all licensed cattle health schemes in the UK.
Tom Cook BVSc MRCVS
Tom qualified in 2011 and has spent his whole career working in farm animal practice in Somerset. He is the son of one of Synergy’s clients near Taunton and consequently has a deep understanding of both dairy farming and the wider agricultural industry.  Tom is interested in all areas of livestock productivity and herd health.
Mike Kerby BVSc CertAVP DBR MRCVS
Advanced Practitioner in Bovine Reproduction
Mike qualified from Bristol in 1985 and has been in farm animal practice in the south west ever since. Mike was a partner at Delaware Veterinary Group in Castle Cary for 16 years before joining Synergy Farm Health in 2020. Mike is an honorary lecturer at Liverpool University and sits on the advisory board at Surrey University Vet School. He holds the prestigious Diploma in Bovine Reproduction from Liverpool University and has extensive experience of dairy herd health. He also has a particular enthusiasm for bovine surgery and developing the next generation of cattle vets.
Martijn’t Hoen DVM CertAVP MRCVS
Martijn qualified in 2008. His entire career has been focused on farm animals, working in practices in his native Netherlands before moving to the UK in 2011. Martijn joined Synergy in 2020. Martijn is experienced in all aspect of cattle and camelid veterinary work, including bull fertility examinations and delivering AI training for farmers. He is also a CowSignals  Master trainer.
Add your details below to access
Do you want to receive updates by email?
I have read and understand Synergy Farm Health's Privacy Policy (Link Below)
Read Synergy Farm Health’s Privacy Policy Here
Pete Siviter BVetMed MRCVS
Pete qualified in 2013 and has been based in Dorset with Synergy Farm Health ever since.  Pete has particular enthusiasm for on-farm discussions about herd health and preventative medicine, as well as enjoying emergency “fire brigade” work.  Pete also has an interest in small holdings and pigs, both domestic and commercial.
Tom Warboys BVetMed PGDipVCP MRCVS
Tom graduated in 2017 and joined Synergy full time after completing the RVC/Synergy Farm Health internship. His particular interests include youngstock and preventative health planning, particularly in suckler herds. Tom is the editor of our beef newsletter.
Pete O’Malley MA VetMB PGCertVetEd FHEA MRCVS
Pete has worked in farm animal practice in the south west since 2012, providing services to a large range of clients across the Somerset region during that time. Pete’s interests lie in optimising animal health and productivity in dairy herds through data driven decision making and training. His passion for education includes that of clients and students alike.
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and is now studying for his Post Graduate Diploma in Veterinary Education and certificate in advanced veterinary practice. Pete leads a clinical teaching rotation at Synergy for Royal Veterinary College students and is a shareholder of the business.
Charlotte Mouland BVSc PGDipVCP MRCVS
Charlotte graduated in 2015 and spent six months working as a dairy vet in New Zealand, enjoying the challenges of seasonal calving work. Charlotte joined Synergy in 2016. Charlotte’s particular interests include a growing specialism in sheep work, providing high level health planning to a growing number of sheep flocks, as well as routine fertility work and preventative medicine in dairy herds.
Jon Reader BVSc DCHP FRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Cattle Health and Production
Jon Reader qualified in 1997 and has been a farm animal vet in Somerset ever since. In 2010 Jon gained the RCVS Diploma in Cattle Health and Production and in 2013 was runner up as Farmers Weekly Farm Advisor of the Year. Jon is a member of the Nottingham Dairy Herd Health Group as well as being a member of the UK Dairy Cattle Mobility Steering Group. Jon was awarded the prestigious RCVS Fellowship in 2020 for his meritorious contributions to clinical practice. Jon has a particular interest in foot trimming, working with para professionals and using technology to assist in the recording and analysis of mobility and lameness records.
Jon is our Managing Director, and part of the senior management team.  He has specific responsibility for the financial management of the business.
Jo Masters Cert Ed RVN Operations Director
After a varied career in veterinary nursing, teaching, examining and practice management Jo joined Synergy Farm Health in 2012 when the farm animal service of Langport Veterinary Centre also transferred. Jo’s extensive experience of all sectors of veterinary practice, coupled with her farming background enables her to head our operational logistics working with our teams of clinicians and support staff to organise and implement resources, facilities, and protocols. Working with the Operations Manager Jo is responsible for staff employment and HR management as well as overseeing our teams of staff both in and out of the practice. Working with the Operational team Jo implements plans, projects and new initiatives as well as being responsible for elements of practice representation and client liaison.  Jo describes her role as ‘herding cats’ and is proud to be the first female Director of Synergy Farm Health.
Andrew Davies BVetMed CertCHP FRCVS
Andrew is Senior Director of Synergy Farm Health having been Managing Director since inception in 2009 until November 2021.
His responsibilities include exploring opportunities for Business Development, working closely with the Marketing team, being involved in Medicines procurement and generally advising Senior Management.
He is very motivated by people development and education and has been heavily involved with the development of our Internship programme and the Farm Animal Teaching rotation for final year veterinary students with the Royal Veterinary College, University of London.
Andrew is POV (Principal Official Veterinarian) of Farmcare West Ltd; on the medicines procurement Team for XLVets UK Ltd; Non-Executive Director for VDS (Veterinary Defence Society) and a Governor at Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester.
Andrew was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (FRCVS) in 2020 for meritorious contributions to the Veterinary Profession.
Clinically he is interested in proactive health planning programmes and calf health. He has an active interest in Responsible Use of Medicines and the steps we can take in veterinary practice in minimising any impact on AMR (anti-microbial resistance).
He received the UK Food & Farming Industry Animal Health Adviser of the year award in 2019.
In his spare time, he is a keen follower of both rugby union and football – being a passionate Welshman avidly following the national rugby team but also a lifelong supporter, for his sins, of Swansea City AFC! He is a member of a local mixed voice Choir, enjoys walking the Dorset coast and countryside with his family and their dog.
Claire Rudd BVetMed MRCVS
Claire qualified in 2005, and has worked in Dorset for the majority of her career.  Her main clinical focus is cattle medicine, and she has particular interests in fertility and infectious disease control.
Nicky Ogden BVM BVS MVM MRCVS
Nicky qualified in 2012 and has spent her entire career working in farm animal practice, both in the UK and New Zealand. In 2018 she spent a year completing further study in sheep health and production at Nottingham University. Nicky enjoys improving flock health and productivity and joined Synergy in 2021 to further enhance our sheep team.
Andre Northey DrMVet MRCVS
Andre graduated in 2005 in his native Germany, before joining Synergy Farm Health in 2012.  Andre is especially interested in bovine surgery and set up our Embryo Collection and Transfer service for cattle and alpacas. In 2020 Andre completed the well regarded Cow Signals training.  Andre delivers our four day AI course for farmers and herdsmen, as well as teaching final year students from the Royal Veterinary College.
Bella Lowis MA VetMB MRCVS
Bella graduated in 2010 and has spent the majority of her career working in Dorset, joining Synergy Farm Health in 2019.  Bella is experienced in all farm animal clinical procedures and has a particular interest in youngstock.
Emily Gascoigne MA VetMB DipECSRHM MRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Sheep Health and Production
Emily graduated in 2012 and has worked at Synergy Farm Health throughout her career. Whilst enthusiastic about all aspects of farm animal practice, Emily has a special interest is sheep and goat production, with particular emphasis on flock health planning, reducing production losses and infectious disease control. Emily gained the European Diploma in Small Ruminant Health Management in 2018 and is an RCVS Recognised Specialist in Sheep Health and Production.  Emily is the Regional Vet Lead for our Central Area and a shareholder in the practice.
Sam Cottam BVSc MSc MRCVS
Sam graduated in 2015 and has worked in several farm animal practices in the south west before joining Synergy Farm Health.  Sam has a particular interest in dairy cow nutrition and has been closely involved in the development of our nutritional advice service.
Tom Clarke BVSc MRCVS
Tom graduated in 2002 and has spent his whole career in farm animal practice, including several years working in New Zealand.  Tom has a particular interest in dairy herd health and productivity, in both intensive high yielding herds as well as grass based block calving units.  Tom is also one of our in house mastitis specialists.  As an AHDB mastitis plan deliverer Tom performs mastitis investigations into challenging situations on farm, specialising in dynamic testing of milking parlours.  Tom became a shareholder in the practice in 2013 and spent a number of years as East regional lead vet, before becoming Clinical Director in 2019.
Josie Burridge BVM&S MRCVS
Josie graduated in 2015 and joined Synergy Farm Health in 2019.  Josie has a particular interest in dairy herd health and productivity and especially youngstock.
Ben Barber BVetMed MRCVS
Ben qualified in 2014. Ben’s primary interests lie in beef cattle, both suckler herds but also calf rearers and finishers, and he spends a considerable amount of his time delivering consultancy work to the UK’s largest beef integration chain. Ben also delivers routine work to a number of dairy herds where he enjoys improving herd performance and productivity. Ben is actively engaged with the teaching of university students at Synergy and has also been part of teaching projects abroad in aid of charity.  Ben became a shareholder in the practice in 2020.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Look at our Cookie Policy For More DetailsOkCookie Policy