One of the presentations at this year’s Teagasc national hill sheep conference will explore the fascinating subject of which breed of sheep performs best in a hill sheep system.

The topic will be discussed by Teagasc researcher Frank Campion who has reviewed the work carried out to date through Teagasc research and the experience of farmers in their BETTER Farm sheep programme.

There will also be three other topical presentations on the night. Patricia Deane, project manager with the MacGillycuddy Reeks EIP project, will discuss the development of innovative actions for high nature value farming using the experiences of their EIP project.

This will include an assessment of practices which have delivered for the environment and for farmers participating and also the challenges that lie ahead.

This is a highly relevant topic at present given that the Agri-Environment Climate Measure Co-Operation aspect of the scheme will focus on the learnings of such EIP projects.

Farm output

Mortality is a sheep system has a major effect on farm output and potential profit.

Unfortunately, the cause of mortality in hill sheep systems is often unaccounted for. In his presentation, Shane McGettrick, laboratory manager at the Department of Agriculture Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Co Sligo, will report on the post-mortem findings in sheep submitted to regional veterinary laboratories and this should shed some light on the areas farmers need to focus on.

Finally, eye issues in sheep always seem to create challenges at this time of year due to issues such as ocular listeriosis.

Seamus Campbell, Teagasc, will discuss the causes and solutions of eye problems and blindness in sheep.

Conference venue

The Teagasc national hill sheep conference takes place on Thursday 24 February at 7pm. This year’s event takes place both in person and virtually. It will be held in the Clayton Hotel, Sligo (F91 N8EF), while registration for the virtual event is at teagasc.ie/hillsheepcon22.