Let's Talk Sheep Webinars
Let's Talk Sheep is a series of webinars for Irish sheep farmers, hosted monthly by Teagasc.
Make sure to join once a month on a Wednesday evening at 8pm for timely, relevant and practical advice to allow you make better management decisions on your sheep farm.
And be prepared to get involved in the discussion – there will be an opportunity for you to pose your questions to each week’s presenters.
See topics for each webinar below
Practical tips to make lambing easier
Wednesday, 12 February 2025 | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist was joined by Michael Gottstein & Damian Costello, Teagasc Sheep Specialists who provided some advice as to how to make the upcoming lambing season easier. The team focused on health issues, management at lambing time, facilities and equipment, and hygiene.
Watch webinar recording below
Bluetongue and Schmallenberg Disease
Wednesday, 15 January 2025 | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist was joined by Audrey Jenkinson, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Superintending Veterinary Inspector at the National Disease Control Centre to provide an insight into Bluetongue and Schmallenberg Disease.
View an informative video from DAFM on how to keep Bluetongue out of Ireland here
Watch back webinar recording below
Previous Webinars
Click on the links below to view episodes from:
2024
Sheep Housing, Feed Management and Planning
Wednesday, 11 December 2024 | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch was joined by Damian Costello and Michael Gottstein, Teagasc Sheep Specialists to discuss sheep housing, feed management and planning.
Damian gave an insight into the practical aspects of planning for the housing of ewes, while Michael presented on the nutritional needs of the ewes.
Watch webinar recording below
Practical tips to make lambing easier
Wednesday, 7 February 2024 | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist was joined by Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep Knowledge Transfer, Teagasc and Niall Conaty & Fergus O'Rourke, Teagasc Ballyhaise Agricultural College to discuss practical tips and tricks to make lambing easier.
Watch webinar recording below
Flock health pre lambing
Wednesday, 10 January 2024 | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch was joined by Maresa Sheehan, Kilkenny Regional Veterinary Laboratory (RVL), DAFM and Shane McGettrick, Sligo RVL, DAFM to discuss flock health pre lambing.
Maresa and Shane discussed flock health issues and preparing for the busy lambing season.
Watch webinar recording below
2023
Housing sheep & feeding plans
Wednesday, 13 December | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch was joined by Damian Costello and Michael Gottstein, Teagasc Sheep Specialists to discuss housing sheep & feeding plans.
Damian and Michael discussed key aspects relating to the housing of sheep for the winter and feeding plans for pregnant ewes in mid and late pregnancy.
Watch webinar recording below
Practical tips to make lambing easier
Wednesday, 1 March | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep which took place on Wednesday, 1 March, host Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist was joined by Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep KT, Teagasc to give some practical tips to make lambing easier.
Lambing time represents the most labour intensive time on Irish sheep farms. Michael discusses the steps sheep farmers can take at lambing time to make life easier during this busy period.
Watch webinar recording below
Nutrition of the ewe pre lambing
Wednesday, 11 January | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Damian Costello, Teagasc Sheep Specialist was joined by Dr Frank Campion, Teagasc and Shane Moore, BETTER Farm Sheep Programme Participant, Co. Roscommon to discuss the nutrition of the ewe pre lambing.
Nutrition of the pregnant ewe plays an important role in the successful outcome of parturition and subsequent ewe and lamb performance. In this webinar the panel outlined what are the key components of a flock nutrition programme in the run up to lambing and what are the pitfalls to look out for.
Watch webinar recording below
Flock Health Pre Lambing
Wednesday, 8 February | 8pm
On this episode of Let's Talk Sheep, host Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist was joined by Maresa Sheehan, DAFM RVL Kilkenny and Charles Chavasse, Zoetis to discuss flock health pre lambing.
Flock health or breakdown thereof plays a significant role in the performance of the sheep enterprise on all farms. This webinar dealt with the steps that sheep farmers should take to ensure that negative flock health issues are minimised.
Watch webinar recording below
2022
Fluke and lameness control in sheep
Wednesday, 21 December | 8pm
This episode of Let's Talk Sheep focused on fluke and lameness control in sheep.
Speakers:
- Dr. Orla Keane, Teagasc
- Michael Gottstein, Teagasc
Flock health challenges are an important issues affecting all sheep farmers. On this webinar Dr. Orla Keane outlined what steps farmers should be taking to manage liver fluke infections in sheep. The webinar detailed how best to diagnose infections and how to treat infected sheep.
Michael Gottstein discussed how best to deal with the annual issues of lameness in the sheep house. Up for discussion was how to treat affected sheep and how best to reduce the spread from sheep to sheep with the sheep house.
2021
Thursday, 4 February | 8pm
Reducing Mortality at Lambing Time
During this webinar, the team of Teagasc Sheep Specialists covered topics such as:
- Hygiene – reducing challenge from infection during lambing and early life
- Nutrition – feeding the ewe to maximise colostrum quality and quantity
- Nutrition of the new born lamb – stomach tubing
- Health care – preventing infection and treating lambs with hypothermia
Thursday, 4 March | 8pm
Grazing Management from Turnout to Weaning
On this hour long webinar, Teagasc Sheep Specialist, Ciaran Lynch and Sheep Researcher, Philip Creighton covered the following topics:
- Fertiliser Application
- Pre / Post Grazing Targets
- Grouping up lambs
- Matching growth rate to demand
Thursday, 8 April | 8pm
Nematodirus / Coccidiosis in Lambs
Dr. Orla Keane from Teagasc discussed Nematodirus infection in young lambs. This is very timely as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) have just issued their Nematodirus forecast which has indicated that peak hatching and infection will be about a week earlier this year due to higher soil temperature this spring. Orla gave an insight into the symptoms of the disease, what control products to use and how to reduce the risk of infection to lambs.
Mr. Michael Gottstein from Teagasc discussed coccidiosis infection in young lambs. This is a condition which also occurs in the young lambs around the same time that we start to see issues with Nematodirus. Michael outlined the symptoms, control and hygiene measures.
Thursday, 6 May | 8pm
Silage Making on Sheep Farms
This webinar covered the area of silage production on sheep farms. Dr. Tim Keady, Teagasc joined host Ciaran Lynch to discuss the key factors impacting silage feed value. He also outlined key management factors in the production of high feed value silage, including fertiliser management, harvest date and wilting.
Thursday, 3 June | 8pm
Shane Moore Teagasc BETTER Sheep Farmer Virtual Farm Walk
On the 3rd June, as we sat down with BETTER Sheep Farmer Shane Moore in a hour long interactive webinar to discuss infrastructure required for flock expansion on your sheep farm!
Topics discussed on the night included:
- Grazing Infrastructure
- Grassland Management
- PBI & Lamb Performances on Shane's farm
- Sheep Shed Design, Costs and Building process
- Footbath and Handling Facilities Design
This webinar was chaired by Ciaran Lynch, Teagasc Sheep Specialist and speakers on the night included Frank Campion, Teagasc Reseacher ; Damian Costello, Teagasc Sheep Specialist; Michael Conroy, Teagasc Advisor and Shane Moore, Teagasc BETTER Sheep Farmer.