Case report big deal for young vet

George Smith (left) receives an award from Andrew Roe for best practitioner presentation at the New Zealand Veterinary Association sheep and beef cattle conference in Blenheim. Photo / Supplied

Ever since he was a small child, George Smith has been hooked on sheep and beef farming.

That passion has turned into a career for the recently graduated vet who was thrilled to receive the best practitioner presentation at the New Zealand Veterinary Association's sheep and beef cattle conference.

From a sheep and beef farm in north Waikato, Mr Smith (25) always wanted to be a farmer but his parents told him he should get a job first.

He headed to vet school at Massey University but did not get in at his first attempt so he completed a science degree in agriculture before returning to vet school and successfully completing his second degree.

That seven years at university involved a lot of perseverance and a ''hell of a lot of commitment'' but he acknowledged that he was a ''pretty determined'' person.

Now in his job as a vet, the two degrees worked exceptionally well together, he said.

In mid-January, Mr Smith headed south for his first job at the Veterinary Centre Oamaru and he was loving it.

He particularly enjoyed getting involved with the community, meeting farmers and being an asset to their businesses. He was passionate about maximising production and getting the most out of farming systems.

In his final year at university, students were tasked to write an exemplary case report which had to be of publishable standard.

The NZVA's sheep and beef cattle branch had a prize for the best report pertaining to sheep and beef, the prize for which was a free day pass to its conference.

It was an ''awesome incentive'' and it was won by Mr Smith for a research project he did on feeding fodder beet to increase live weight gains in rising two-year Friesian bulls.

The use of fodder beet as a supplementary feed to overcome seasonally induced feed deficits in bull beef finishing systems in summer-dry areas of the North Island was a novel concept, he said.

The objective of the study was to measure the liveweight gain of two mobs of rising 2-year bulls grazing fodder beet and to ascertain whether the crop would allow the farm to achieve its short-term goal of finishing all bulls before their second winter.

It started as a little trial that he did at home for interest sake and got ''bigger and bigger'', he said.

He found no weight gain took place in the first 32 days which was a significant finding but, from then on, very significant weight gains took place.

His report was published in the Grazing Gazette, published by the sheep and beef branch, on scientific articles of interest.

He was then asked to make a presentation at the conference in Blenheim which was attended by vets from all over New Zealand.

With a 15-minute slot to make his presentation, Mr Smith acknowledged it was a ''big deal'' for him.

There were about five new graduates at the conference, while many attending were very experienced vets, with some owning ''massive'' practices.

He spent three days at the conference and it was a huge opportunity to network with people and get his name ''out there''.

At the end of the conference, he was judged best practitioner presentation which was very exciting, he said.

His goal was to become a competent vet and proficient at what he did. He was fortunate to have a huge amount of support and professional knowledge to call on, he said.

Outside of work, he was enjoying playing premier hockey for Tainui, which was a good way to get involved in the community.