Maintaining the national sheep flock at least at its current level is fundamental to the success of the sheep sector in the future, a major strategy report published yesterday has said.
The Sheep Industry Development Strategy report contains 37 recommendations which, it said, if implemented would increase the output of the sector, currently worth over €300 million annually, by €50 million.
Compiled by a committee chaired by John Malone, former secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, the report recommended Government support and grant aid to improve production and better breeding.
It also proposed increasing Rural Environment Protection Scheme (Reps) rates as many of the country's 35,000 flock owners are in the scheme. It also recommended grant assistance for handling facilities and fencing and a programme to assist hill sheep producers.
Central to the future, said the report, was the maintenance and improvement of productivity of ewes and it set a target of at least 1.5 lambs sold/per ewe to the ram - compared with the current figure of 1.3. The report also called for more research into sheep farming and said there was a need for a sheepmeat quality assurance scheme similar to that for beef.
It encouraged Bord Bia to seek out niche markets and urged it to develop a specific strategy for selling into ethnic markets where sheepmeat is the product of choice. The report, launched yesterday by Minister for Agriculture and Food Mary Coughlan was given a broad welcome by the sector but the Irish Farmers Association said she should provide €30 million for its implementation.