A European conference titled Building Capacity and New Opportunities in Farming, Food, Wool, Agritourism, Research and Innovation will take place on Friday 30 October 2020.

The event was due to take place in Galway as part of activities held to mark Galway’s designation as the European Capital of Culture for 2020.

The event is organised by Project Baa Baa and is aiming to highlight new markets and new directions for sheep farming and associated traditions by the sharing of knowledge and expertise.

Events director Deborah Evers said: “The bringing together of disparate groups of delegates involved in farming, meat and dairy production (cheese), wool, craft and design, eco innovation, development and agritourism will give each delegate an insight into what is going on in the world of sheep”.

Programme line-up

The event which is being chaired by Damien O’Reilly, of Countrywide RTE 1, has a strong line-up of speakers with the full programme of events detailed below. The event costs €35 to tune into and booking can be made through https://projectbaabaa.clr.events/. The Project Baa Baa website also details several other events taking place on that weekend.

EUROPEAN CONFERENCE | Building Capacity & New Opportunities

10.00am Welcome: Chaired by Damien O’Reilly, Countrywide RTE 1

10.05 Breed Development: Old and New (Belclare Sheep), Dr. James P. Hanrahan, UCD.

10.25 Improving Sheep Productivity EuroSheep IRL (SheepNet): The technical and practical knowledge reservoir to increase EU sheep productivity, Dr. Tim Keady, Teagasc.

10.45 Farming Practices and Sheep Husbandry - Better Farming

Exploiting potential: Lowland /Hill Breeding & Grassland Management, Professor Michael Diskin, Teagasc.

11.05 Food - To Market and Taste.

Declan Fennell, Bord Bia ‘Customer First’ and Mary Johnson, Australia MLA ‘GOOD MEAT’ Marketing.

11.25 Wendy Barrie, Scottish Food Guide, Leader of Slow Food Scotland’s Ark of Taste and Bosse Dalgren, Heritage Farmer, Linneus Environment Award, Sweden - Using Quality Indicators, Origin Green, PGI, PDO, TSG, Ark of Taste,

11.45 Dr. Andrew Sharp, School of Artisan Food Production, UK on Lakeland Herdwick Sheep, PDO and Traditional Cumberland sausage, PGI.

12.05 Enda McEvoy LOAM Restaurant, Galway Michelin Chef, on importance of provenance and local foods available. Kevin Sheridan, Sheridan's Cheesemongers or CÁIS Members TBC Cais Na Tire, Cashel/Crozier Blue, Velvet Cloud, Corleggy, Cratloe Hills, Achill Mountain Lamb, Connemara Hill Lamb PGI, McGeough’s Connemara Fine Foods, McGeoughs Connemara, Carlow Sheep Cheese, Vincenzo’s Sheep Cheese.

Sheep Milk Dairy Opportunities

12.25 Dr Anne Ferlay, INRAE Research Unit Herbivores: Opportunities for ovine milk (cheese) from grass feeding.

12.45 Jutta Kotzi, LFL Bayern, Bavaria, Germany - Lamb & Wild Herbs - Discovering Regional Delicacies.

BREAK

1.15 Wool – ‘Value Added’ Wool

Dalena White, IWTO International Wool Textile Organisation, #choosewool.

1.40 Professor Jane McCann NFC & Chris Weiniger - Donegal Yarns & FUSION Project and Irish Wool Project with Joan Lucey, Yarn Vibes .

2.00 Representing local users IGSWD, IFC and Susanna Crampton.

2.20 Miriam Cushen, Cushendale Woollen Mills: Developing relationships with wool producers.

2.35 Peter Handley, Standard Wool, Wool Standards & Grades.

2.50 Fergal Byrne presents Irish Wool Steering Group and Research.