National Sheep Conference to be held in Galway in June
The National Sheep Conference will take place on June 18.
The new National Sheep Conference, which will blend talks and practical workshops, will take place in Galway this June.
The conference, hosted by Teagasc, is free and will take place on Thursday, June 18, in Ballinasloe, Co Galway. The changed format will see the conference divided into two sessions, blending indoor conference presentations with outdoor practical workshops.
The conference will begin at 3pm and run until 9pm, with refreshments provided between the two sessions.
The first session, from 3pm to 5pm, will take place in Shearwater Hotel and will feature four papers on topical research for the sector. The first talk of the afternoon is on bluetongue and other exotic diseases of sheep and will be delivered by senior superintending veterinary inspector with the Department of Agriculture Dr Avril Hobson.
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The second talk will also focus on flock health, with Teagasc Walsh scholar Jake Delaney discussing lameness in sheep flocks, specifically the causes, management approaches and production effects associated with infectious lameness conditions.
The third talk will investigate labour issues and practices, with a presentation from Teagasc sheep specialist Damian Costello, discussing results from a recent survey he carried out examining labour practices on Irish sheep farms. Finally, the session will conclude with Darren Carty from the discussing the outlook for markets, department schemes and the new CAP.
The conference will move to the farm of John Galvin, Coolfree, Taughmaconnell, Co Roscommon. From 5.30pm, there will be food and refreshments provided to attendees, which is being sponsored by Kepak.
There will also be a poster session from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, highlighting current Teagasc sheep research, and attendees will have a chance to interact with the staff working on the various projects.
Following this, the second session will commence at 7pm. This session will be interactive workshops on four relevant topics at this time of year for all sheep farmers, including grassland management, lameness control, internal parasite control, and flock breeding.
Attendees will have the opportunity to attend all four workshops in the session over the course of the evening, and it is hoped there will be plenty of discussion among attendees and presenters at each of the workshops. The event will conclude at 9pm.
Head of Teagasc sheep knowledge programme Michael Gottstein said: “We are encouraging all people who are involved or have an interest in the sheep industry to attend what promises to be an informative and highly practical event. This is a new format for us in Teagasc, and we hope that attendees will find the new format informative and interesting.”
For more information, visit teagasc.ie
