Ballinasloe to host National Sheep Conference

THE Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe will host the annual Teagasc National Sheep Conference on Thursday, June 18.

The conference has a new format this year. It will be divided into two sessions, going from 3pm to 9pm, and will mix indoor presentations with practical workshops held outdoors.

The first session runs from 3pm to 5pm and will feature four talks. The first will be on Bluetongue and other exotic diseases that sheep can succumb to. This will be delivered by Dr. Avril Hobson, who is a Senior Superintending Veterinary Inspector with the Department of Agriculture.

This will be followed by a talk on flock health from Jake Delaney, a Teagasc Walsh Scholar, where lameness in sheep flocks will be discussed.

The third talk will come from Damian Costello, a Teagasc sheep specialist, and will focus on a survey he has done that looks at labour practices on sheep farms. Darren Carty of the Irish Farmers Journal will give the final talk of the session on the outlook for markets, the new CAP and Department of Agriculture schemes.

Those in attendance will make their way to the farm of John Galvin in Taughmaconnell in Roscommon following this session.

Food and refreshments will be available from 5.30pm with a poster session to highlight the current sheep research projects being done at Teagasc following from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

The second session is due to get underway at 7pm. Workshops will be carried out on four topics relevant to sheep farmers for this time of year relating to grassland management, lameness control, internal parasite control and flock breeding.

The Teagasc National Sheep Conference is free to attend and booking is not required. More information can be found on the Teagasc website.