Practical workshops to feature at Teagasc National Sheep Conference

Moving from its traditional slot of January, the Teagasc National Sheep Conference will take place this Thursday, June 18.

Starting in the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe, H53 F5P9 at 3pm, the opening session – before moving onto a farm – will cover topics such as bluetongue, lameness, results of the Teagasc labour study and the outlook for markets, schemes and the new CAP in a conference style format.

Chaired by Pat Clarke, Teagasc Regional Manager in Galway/Clare, and to be opened by Dr. Stan Lalor, Director of Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc, the conference agenda and line up include:

• Bluetongue & 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 the conference session, the event will move to 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. From 5.30-6.30pm, delegates will have an opportunity to engage with Teagasc researchers and PhD students at Teagasc Athenry through a poster session, focusing on the latest research in genetics, methane emissions and sheep parasites to name a few.

A series of interactive workshops will then take place, covering grassland management, lameness control, sheep breeding with Sheep Ireland and Teagasc and internal parasite control.

Speaking ahead of the Teagasc National Sheep Conference when joining Ciaran Lynch on a recent episode of the OviCast podcast, Amanda McEvoy explained that this year’s event will take a slightly different format.

“It is all very practical tools farmers will be able to bring back to their own farms and hopefully, whether it is learning something new or learning something different that they can apply themselves, we hope it will be a very fantastic workshop session,” Amanda McEvoy said.

For further insights, listen to the full episode of the OviCast podcast below:

For more information on the Teagasc National Sheep Conference, visit here.