Planning for performance events for beef and sheep farmers

Date published: 28 September 2022

CAFRE, in partnership with Agrisearch, AFBI and NI Sheep SOS initiative (Stamp out Scab) will be hosting two events looking at parasite and winter feeding strategies for beef and sheep farmers this winter.

The first event will take place on Tuesday 4 October at 7:30pm, Greenmount Campus, Antrim, CAFRE. The second event will take place on Thursday 6 October at 7:30pm, Enniskillen Campus, CAFRE.

In the climate of rising costs, it is essential that animal health and nutrition are not compromised and there will be speakers on hand to highlight that it is also in our economic interest to maintain a focus on these two important areas.

The event will be introduced and chaired by CAFRE’s Head of Beef and Sheep, Mark Scott who has been part of the Rising Costs Industry Taskforce since its establishment in the springtime.

Professor Eric Morgan (QUB) will present an introduction to targeted anthelmintic treatment alongside farmers involved in the Anthelmintic Targeted Selective Treatment (TST) EIP project who have been trying out TST approaches on beef and sheep farms over the past two grazing seasons. The results of this work in conjunction with innovations around dosing strategies have the potential to save money and reduce resistance with no impact on animal performance.

Amongst other research projects, Eric has a key interest in building and testing predictive models of parasite infection patterns in grazing animals and selective intervention against parasites in livestock to support production and livelihoods.

Paul Crawford will give an update on the Northern Ireland Sheep Scab programme. Paul is the Chairman of the NI Sheep Scab Control and Eradication Group. Being acutely aware of the growing threat posed by sheep scab in NI, Paul initiated the development of the NI Sheep Scab group in 2019. This group partnered with Moredun Research Institute, AFBI and AHWNI to bid for and receive funding to develop and run the NI sheep scab project. Paul will share findings to date and advise farmers on their best course of action to stamp out scab.

Gareth Beacom and Dominic Mason, both CAFRE Beef and Sheep Advisers, will look at the potential implications of various winter-feeding strategies in beef and sheep systems, taken in light of rising input costs and 2022 silage quality. Feeding options for storing and finishing beef cattle will be analysed and discussed as will the options for finishing lambs. Gareth and Dominic both work with a wide range of beef and sheep farmers within their areas through the BDG scheme and will draw on that experience when considering the choices available.

Finally, Francis Lively, Head of Beef and Sheep Research at AFBI Hillsborough will qualify the implications of various diet scenarios from a research perspective.  Specifically considering beef cattle, Francis has used modeling from previous research to look at the consequences when it comes to extended store periods and longer keep systems.

Everyone attending the events will have the opportunity to question the speakers on the night through a facilitated panel discussion.

Registration for the events is desirable to plan for catering but is not essential.  You can register for either event by visiting the CAFRE or AgriSearch websites.

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