12 January 2024

National Sheep Conference: Nutrition, farm transfer and flock health on the agenda

Teagasc will host two National Sheep Conferences, taking place at 7pm on Tuesday, 23 January 2024 in the Athlone Springs Hotel, Co. Roscommon, and Thursday, 25 January in the Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.

The sheep conference will focus on nutrition management in the run up to lambing, the process of transferring the family farm and diagnosing and managing flock health issues.

Dr Tim Keady, Teagasc Research Officer, will discuss the importance of properly managing ewe nutrition during pregnancy, including the consequences on subsequent flock performance.

Martin Clarke from IFAC will discuss the succession challenges facing Irish farm families, covering a range of issues that will include tax, structures, income security and opportunities for planning. He will outline the key considerations and strategies to simplify the process of farm transfers.

Flock health

Flock health status is key to achieving high animal welfare, performance and high levels of profitability in Irish lamb production systems. Occasionally flocks will face various flock health challenges and how the owners deal with these challenges in terms of diagnosis and management differs widely.

In this session, chaired by Darren Carty of the Irish Farmers Journal, we will hear first-hand from both farmers and from Seamus Fagan from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Regional Vet Lab in Athlone about the steps involved in diagnosing and managing these issues on farm. Three sheep farmers, John O Connell, Leitrim, Patrick Dunne, Wicklow and Brian Keane, Wexford, will share their on-farm experiences of three different flock health issues they encountered on their farms.

Conference opening

The opening address at the sheep conference in Letterkenny will be delivered by Charlie McConalogue TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, while the conference in Athlone will be opened by Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director.

Speaking in advance of the events, Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc said: “We have put together an exciting programme for these conferences, which promises to be very informative and interesting for sheep farmers. All are welcome to attend.”

 For more details on the sheep conferences, visit the Teagasc website.