Sheep sharing

An EU network to increase sheep productivity and flock profitability by knowledge exchange is celebrating the end of its three-year partnership with an event in Perth.

During this time, the SheepNet EU project, which involved partners in seven countries – including Scotland’s Rural College, held six transnational workshops, developed 21 factsheets, produced 80 YouTube videos and gathered 130 solutions and practical tips.

At a workshop at the Dewars Centre in Perth next month, SRUC staff will share information about some of the resources created as a result of the partnership, which included the six main sheep-producing EU countries – United Kingdom, Spain, Romania, Italy, France and Ireland, along with Turkey.

Poppy Frater, Sheep Specialist at SAC Consulting - part of SRUC, said: “We will describe some of the best solutions to improve ewe flock rearing percentages. For instance, we will discuss the Teagasc approach to managing ewe nutrition for optimum lamb size and the French Livestock Institute approach to assessing colostrum quality using a brix refractometer.

“We will show some of the tips and tricks learned from farmers across the countries, such as handling systems from New Zealand, with hock bars to keep animals moving forward, and the Romanian methods to select ewes based on temperament.

“Finally, we will introduce some new resources developed to fill knowledge gaps, including SRUC’s new Udder Morphology and Lamb Vigour factsheets and French Livestock Institute factsheets on mineral nutrition and colostrum management.”

The workshop was held at the Dewars Centre in Perth on Wednesday 23 October, from 10am to 3pm.

For more information, please call Val Angus on: 01835 823322.

Posted by SRUC on 24/09/2019