Call for sheep farmers to be treated fairly

A farm leader has suggested that “the obsession with dairy expansion” was perhaps unwise and that the sheep sector should not be treated unfairly.

Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association sheep committee chairman John Brooks made the comments when calling on Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to reconsider the exclusion of sheep fencing from the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes.

“While the previous schemes may have been under subscribed, there has to be an understanding that low-income sheep farmers can only avail of grant schemes when their finances allow,” he said.