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Future Proofing The Sheep Industry
3 years ago 
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The future direction of the Scottish sheep industry will come under the spotlight at an online event organised by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) next month.
The Scottish Sheep Industry Conference showcases the results of a Scottish Government-funded programme of research from 2016-2022.
It will share new knowledge from research at SRUC, in collaboration with the Moredun Research Institute, on health, welfare, climate resilience and breeding strategies to meet the challenges associated with climate change and the changing political landscape for sheep production in Scotland.
It will also discuss the next steps for the implementation of this research into practice, to benefit stakeholders across the sector.
The sessions will focus on:
- New strategies for health management - including issues of anthelmintic and antimicrobial resistance and chronic iceberg diseases
- Neonatal lamb management - considering maternal behaviour, castration and unexplained lamb losses
- Climate resilience - exploring the best breeding and management strategies to reduce the impact of sheep on climate change and vice versa
- New breeding goals - assessing new traits for genetic and genomic selection to improve profitability and sustainability of sheep systems
Dr Joanne Conington, a sheep breeding specialist at SRUC, said: “This meeting provides an excellent forum for researchers, policy makers and the sheep farming industry to discuss the implications of our research.
“It also provides an opportunity for open dialogue with an eye to the future regarding the challenges the Scottish sheep sector is facing and what is being - and should be - done to address them in the future.”
The conference, which will be held from 2-4.15pm on 18 and 19 January 2022, is open to anyone with an interest in the future direction of the Scottish sheep industry.
For more information, or to register for the event, visit: https://bit.ly/SheepConference
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