LambPlus 2017

LambPlus sign-up forms are coming into the office now in large numbers and hopefully this continues up to the sign-up deadline of Thursday 1st December. We have written to all current LambPlus and nonLambPlus sheep society members at this point. We are also asking for the help of all breed societies to remind their members about the LambPlus sign-up deadline. Getting more breeders involved in performance will only be good for each respective sheep breed and more importantly for their commercial farmer customers.

Hill Sheep Parentage Recording For 2017

• Sheep Ireland will continue to offer a free parentage recording service for hill sheep groups interested in parentage recording. For some hill sheep farmers, recording parentage information is a daunting concept, but for those that have been doing it for the past number of years, it has proved easier than first thought. Establishing recognised flockbooks in all our hill areas would be a major advancement for both the breeders and buyers of hill sheep.
• Tracking good performing bloodlines and combating the risk of inbreeding are two big advantages of parentage recording, but the major long term gain will be in terms of performance recording, which can come in future years. Without a solid foundation of parentage recording, performance recording is of limited use and genetic improvement is not possible.
• We are in regular contact with many hill sheep groups around Ireland in relation to establishing parentage recording programmes. We will do all we can to facilitate the process and are happy to meet with any groups interested in getting started in 2017. The first step will be to record mating information, so this time of year is a critical period. Sheep Ireland will provide all the tools to carry out the data recording – access to a personal Sheep Ireland online account and a Sheep Ireland lambing notebook.