Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Development of Sheep Sector: Discussion

Mr. Michael Crosse:

They are high-performing animals and need high intake to produce a high output. There is higher rainfall in the west and winters can be a bit more extreme so the sheep need to be in at night time. Like the dairy cow, on-off grazing can work really well. Regarding land type, they will not milk on top of a hill. If they do, it will have to be in a shed. The severity of the weather and the poor-quality feed would not be ideal. The midland region has good quality land. While that land might not be good enough for a herd of cows to walk across, it still grows very good grass for six months of the year. All those types of land are perfectly suitable for milking sheep.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.