Sheep
Reducing labour requirement on your sheep farm
Reducing labour requirement on your sheep farm It is often said ‘there is a lot of work in sheep’ but trying to put an exact figure on how much labour is required on a sheep farm is very difficult, Alan Bohan, Teagasc Ballymote, discusses more in this article. There are a number […]
25 February 2023
Missed the National Sheep Conference?
Missed the National Sheep Conference? The Teagasc National Sheep Conference – held in two locations in 2023 – featured topics such as resistance to drenches, organics, greenhouse gas emissions and multi-species swards. If you were unable to attend either event, recordings of the main speaker’s presentations are available below. Parasites of sheep […]
22 February 2023
An overview of the ACRES Kerry / West Cork co-operation
An overview of the ACRES Kerry / West Cork co-operation The ACRES Kerry / West Cork co-operation project is one of eight co-operation projects across Ireland, which are working with farmers in areas of high nature conservation value as part of the Common Agricultural Policy’s national agri-environmental climate measure. It is funded […]
21 February 2023
Flock health and the common issues observed
Flock health and the common issues observed This week’s OviCast podcast is from a recent Let’s Talk Sheep webinar with Maresa Sheehan, who is based in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Regional Veterinary Lab in Co. Kilkenny. Maresa talks about the flock health issues that they observe in the […]
21 February 2023
Will there be enough SIS-eligible hill rams, and where can they be found?
Will there be enough SIS-eligible hill rams, and where can they be found? Sheep Ireland is actively engaging with all the established hill groups around Ireland, Kevin McDermott told delegates at the recent National Hill Sheep Conference. Sheep Ireland is working with all groups to genotype as many of their stock rams […]
20 February 2023
Planning for lambing season
Planning for lambing season Damian Costello, Teagasc Sheep Specialist, reminds us to start planning for lambing season. The key focus in the run-up to lambing should be having a plan in place to minimise the level of lamb mortality within your flock. Along with the obvious benefit of ending up with more […]
19 February 2023
Practical implications of conversion to organics on hill sheep farms
Practical implications of conversion to organics on hill sheep farms The appropriate system of sheep production on hill farms is farm specific. It depends on factors such as the quality and amount of enclosed green land available along with the harshness of the hill grazing environment on the farm. Damian Costello, Teagasc […]
18 February 2023
Improving returns in hill sheep with flock health and production planning
Improving returns in hill sheep with flock health and production planning The concept of flock health planning is not new, however, the idea has had a variable history and opinion on how best to achieve widespread uptake remains divided. John Barley, AFBI Veterinary Science Division, told delegates at last night’s National Hill […]
16 February 2023
Spring fertiliser planning
Spring fertiliser planning Teagasc Soil & Plant Nutrition Specialist, Mark Plunkett, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss fertiliser planning this spring. With fertiliser costs remaining high, Mark starts by explaining timing, location and rate of nitrogen application this spring with Mark highlighting the crops’ requirements at present. He […]
14 February 2023
Sheep and Goat census deadline is 14th February
Sheep and Goat census deadline is 14th February Sheep and goat census returns deadline is Tuesday 14th February. Keepers are required to record census data on their flock registers and return their census data, preferably online. Find out how to complete the online census return here With the deadline for completion of […]
14 February 2023