National Hill Sheep Conference set for Co. Cork
The Irish hill sheep sector plays an important role in the economic health of rural economies and the maintenance of the natural landscape in many of Ireland’s most scenic areas.
This year, the Teagasc National Hill Sheep Conference focusses on: flock health and production planning; ACRES; the Sheep Improvement Scheme; and the factors to consider with organic conversion. The National Hill Sheep Conference takes places this Wednesday, February 15th at 7pm in the Westlodge Hotel, Bantry, Co. Cork, P75 N978.
ACRES
The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) has two different streams – ACRES General and ACRES Co-Operation. The latter operates in eight defined high-priority geographical areas, some of these would cover extensive areas of sheep farming country.
The co-op approach is more focused on Results Based scoring.This is where the payment is based on the condition of a field/habitat rather than a set payment. Farmers in the co-op areas will have all their land scored for payments. Scoring is based on scorecards listing positive and negative indicators in a field. The scoring area will include the commonage. The only actions allowed in co-op that are common to the General ACRES Scheme are stonewall maintenance, rare breeds or low emission slurry. In addition it is proposed to introduce NPI (Non Productive Investments) in these areas with additional payments.
Patricia Deane, Project Manager, South Kerry Development Partnership, will provide an overview of the ACRES Co-operation in Kerry / west Cork.
Organic conversion
The Irish organic sector has experienced a large influx of new farmers in recent years, with now over 4,000 farmers farming organically including just over 2,000 who entered conversion in January 2023. The number of organic sheep flocks in 2021 was approaching 700, with an estimated 66,000 breeding ewes, which will increase with the recent new entrants.
For farmers who have recently converted or are considering the switch to organic production when applications for the next phase of the scheme open later this year, Teagasc’s Damian Costello and Elaine Leavy will provide an overview of the practical implications of conversion on hill sheep farms.
Sheep improvement scheme
Just over 19,000 of the 36,000 sheep farmers in Ireland have applied to join the Sheep Improvement Scheme, which provides financial support to farmers for taking extra steps to improve the welfare of their flock. Based on completing a number of flock welfare measures, payment rates of €12 per breeding ewe are available. For hill flocks, there is the option of selecting a genotyped and sire verified ram of a hill breed under the category B tasks. Kevin McDermott, Sheep Ireland, will discuss what this task will accomplish for the hill sheep sector.
Flock health and production planning
Flock health is the key to productivity on our sheep farms and Jason Barley, from the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) Veterinary Sciences Division will discuss aspects of flock health and production planning to improve returns in hill sheep farming.