National Sheep Conference 2026

The new look Teagasc National Sheep Conference will take place this year on Thursday, the 18^th of June in Ballinasloe. In a change to the format from previous years, the conference will be divided into two sessions, blending indoor conference presentations with outdoor practical workshops.  The conference will begin at 3pm and run until 9pm with food and refreshments provided between the two sessions.  All are welcome to attend.

The topics that will be covered as part of this conference include:

• Blue Tongue & Other Exotic Diseases of Sheep
  Dr. Ruth Sanders, Superintending Veterinary Inspector with the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM)
• Lameness in sheep flocks, specifically the causes, management approaches and production effects associated with infectious lameness conditions
  Jake Delaney, Teagasc Walsh Scholar
• Results from the Teagasc Labour Survey on Irish Sheep farms                        
  Damian Costello, Teagasc
• Outlook for markets, DAFM schemes and the new CAP
  Darren Carty, Irish Farmers Journal

Following this session the conference will move to the the farm of John Galvin, Coolfree, Taughmaconnell, Co. Roscommon (H53 R942).  From 5:30pm there will be food and refreshments provided to attendees which is kindly 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 highly relevant topics at this time of year for all sheep farmers namely

• 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 amongst attendees and presenters at each of the workshops. The event will conclude at 9pm.

All are welcome to attend. No prior booking is required and there is no charge to attend this event.

Food on farm sponsored by Kepak