Mr. Michael Crosse:

Sheep probably do best on a straw bed and the straw bed is obviously dung. The sheds have very little dirty water. The milking system is relatively low as well but the majority of the farmyard waste is manure and dry matter and it is much healthier for the soil in promoting earthworm activity and the likes. When we talk about dairy, we think about dirty water and water pollution.

Sheep do not have that impact. They do not break the soil and do not produce a huge volume of slurry that can be difficult to handle at times in Ireland, with our high rainfall. Those are two small points on what is beneficial about sheep.