Sheep Conference - Efficient Lamb Production held in conjunction with partners CAFRE, LMC, UFU and NSA

“Efficient Lamb Production” was the subject under the microscope at the AFBI/CAFRE/UFU/LMC and NSA conference at Greenmount recently.

This year’s event focused on making sheep farming as profitable and efficient as possible through a number of different factors.

Delegates heard from AFBI’s Dr Jason Barley about the need to detect and protect their flocks from Jaagsiekte, (Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) which is an infectious and fatal lung disease of sheep. He was followed by Dr Aurélie Aubry, Head of AFBI’s sheep programme at Hillsborough who presented a paper on the importance of developing a flock health plan for efficient flock management.

Improving genetics of the Irish national flock was presented by Noirin McHugh of Teagasc and improving grassland management from soil chemistry and structure to the quality of grass as a feed of the future was highlighted by Gareth Davies from Wales.

Other presentations followed on techniques to improve labour efficiency and the impact of market forces on global and local sheep production. A number of farmer presentations focussed on different production systems, including Bobby Lennox’s hill farm in Scotland which recently featured on BBC 2’s “This Farming Life”.

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