28 January 2025
Teagasc National Lowland Sheep Conference – Meet the speakers
Taking place in two locations this week, the Teagasc National Sheep Conference will cover a range of practical and topical sheep production issues.
On Tuesday, 28 January, the conference will take place in the Ard Rí House Hotel, Tuam, Co. Galway, before moving to the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, Co. Meath on Thursday, January 30. Both events start at 7pm.
Speakers from the UK, Teagasc, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will take to the rostrum at the respective venues.
Low stress handling for shepherd and sheep
The first presentation will be delivered by Miriam Parker, Livestockwise. Miriam is an Agricultural Scientist and, after qualifying, spent a number of years in practical livestock management (milking cows!) and with the Scottish Agricultural Colleges.
In 1987, she joined a UK-based animal welfare charity, the Humane Slaughter Association, as the Technical Director, undertaking a number of training and technology transfer projects to improve animal handling and slaughter methods.
In 2000, Miriam moved to the Welsh Borders and set up Livestockwise. The company provides specialist advice in the area of animal handling and slaughter. Clients range from major retailers to slaughter plants, farmers and national governments and trade sector bodies to NGOs.
Miriam has travelled widely and worked with livestock farmers and handlers in India, Mongolia, China, Brazil, Uruguay and Indonesia, to name a few. In 2006, she was awarded an MBE for services to farming. In her spare time, Miriam breeds pedigree Southdown and Teeswater sheep, is a weaver and a competitive carriage driver.
“Looking after my own sheep (and horses) is what keeps me thinking at a practical level. Animal handling and welfare is not just a subject I deal with from Monday to Friday, it’s a 365 day a year job,” Miriam explained.
Thin Ewe Scheme – The findings
Seamus Fagan, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Regional Veterinary Laboratory, will share the key findings of the Thin Ewe Scheme.
Seamus qualified in Veterinary Medicine in 1992 from UCD. He spent 15 years in a mixed practice in Roscommon and then joined the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
He worked for six years in Veterinary Public Health, based in Kildare Chilling Company, the largest beef and sheep slaughter plant in Ireland. For the last 11 years, he is based in Athlone Regional Veterinary Laboratory, first as a Research Officer (RO) and now as Senior Research Officer (SRO). He is also currently lead of DAFM Laboratories Small Ruminant Expert Group.
Are we paying enough attention to body condition score?
Dr. Frank Campion, Teagasc, will present on body condition score, sharing with delegates its importance. Dr. Frank Campion is a Research Officer based in the Teagasc Animal & Grassland Research & Innovation Centre in Athenry, Co. Galway.
His research interests include developing lamb finishing systems for hill-bred lambs post weaning, hill sheep grazing management, flock health and flock nutrition. He also leads the research elements of the Teagasc BETTER Sheep Farm Programme.
Botanically diverse swards
Sarah Woodmartin began her research career in 2020 after graduating from UCD with a degree in Animal Science. She pursued a PhD through the Walsh Scholars Programme, under the supervision of her supervisors Dr. Fiona McGovern, Dr. Philip Creighton (Teagasc) and Professor Tommy Boland (UCD).
Having recently submitted her PhD thesis, Sarah is now working as a Grassland Nutrition Researcher at Teagasc Athenry, Co. Galway. Sarah’s PhD research focused on the addition of clovers (white clover or red clover) or herbs (chicory or plantain) to a perennial ryegrass sward in an intensive sheep production system. Feed intake and digestibility, animal performance, sward quality, methane output and meat eating quality were monitored for the duration of the study.
Sarah’s presentation will focus primarily on the findings from her PhD research, with an emphasis on enhancing the sustainability of our pasture-based sheep production systems through offering more botanically diverse sward types.
New Sheep Movement App
A DAFM’s Sheep App to notify farm-to-farm movements will also take place. The development of this new digital app means sheep farmers can now notify their farm-to-farm movements from their phone.
Flock keepers receiving or purchasing stock no longer need to post the pink dispatch docket that accompanies the sheep to their local DAFM Regional Offices. Instead, once the app is downloaded, the receiving keeper will be able to submit a digital movement by submitting a photo of either the pink/white dispatch document that accompanied the animals. They will, however, continue to be required to record the movement data in their flock register and to keep copies of the pink and white dispatch documents there for record keeping purposes.
The conferences will be addressed by Teagasc senior management. Professor Pat Dillon, Director of Research in Teagasc, will speak to sheep farmers on Tuesday, 28 January in the Ard Rí House Hotel, Tuam, Co. Galway, while Professor Frank O Mara will address the conference on Thursday, 30 January in Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, Co. Meath.
For more information on the Teagasc National Lowland Sheep Conference, visit here.