The National Young Shepherds Competition 2014 is being held on Saturday 24 May from 9am to 2pm. The event, sponsored by FBD and Irish Country Meats, provides an excellent opportunity for young, enthusiastic shepherds to demonstrate their practical skills and technical knowledge of sheep farming.

Competitors will be judged in four disciplines, including husbandry skills such as handling, drafting, age identification, condition scoring, etc; technical knowledge and breed identification; selecting lambs for slaughter and use of a quad bike and trailer.

O’Donovan Engineering is supplying the sheep-handling equipment, while quads, supplied by Hanleys of Ashford, will test shepherds in manoeuvring through a specially designed course.

The competition is being co-ordinated by Teagasc’s Elizabeth Earle (Elizabeth.Earle@teagasc.ie) with help from agricultural colleges and past world shepherd competitor Graham Murphy.

As well as competing for the accolade of Ireland’s National Young Shepherd 2014, the top two finalists will also be awarded with the honour of representing Ireland in the World Young Shepherds Challenge 2014, to be held later this year from 30 September to 4 October.

Next generation in sheep handling

Minimising labour is central to operating an efficient sheep enterprise. With the potential to draft or sort 600 sheep per hour, visitors to the shearing will have the opportunity to witness the first demos in Ireland of the Universal Electric Autodrafter.

The newest technology from New Zealand-based sheep handling manufactures Pratley offers flock owners numerous options in sorting and selecting sheep.

Powered electronically, the system’s computer can store and sort a range of production information. This can be used to select and sort animals, with sheep identified via reading of electronic tags. Demonstrations by O’Donovan Engineering will take place throughout the day from Thursday through to Sunday.