Published: 08:52 Tuesday 28 January 2020

The Northern Ireland Region of National Sheep Association is offering an open invitation to its members and any sheep farmer to the Annual Regional Members Meeting.

The venue is The Ross Park Hotel, Kells, Ballymena on Thursday 6th February with ARMM at 7.30pm and open meeting at 8.00pm.

Katie James from NSA headquarters will be giving a quick overview of current NSA work and involvement with UK government. Since the UK voted to leave the UK the NSA has been working tirelessly to represent sheep farmers and make sure they were not forgotten in any negotiations. There is less talk or urgency about Brexit at present but now more than ever we need to keep the pressure on to ensure a suitable outcome. The new Agriculture Bill is now on the table and NSA will be keeping a close eye on the interpretations of the content.

CEO Phil Stocker said: The aspiration to create a fairer supply chain is commendable but we would like to see commitments to protect our farmers from products of lower standards, particularly if we see a strong drive to increase environmental and welfare standards.

The main speaker for the evening is a young farmer from Wales.

Rhys Edwards manages the family farm with his parents in the South Wales valleys. Now 225 acres, Hendre Ifan Goch farm is in an SDA Region. Ranging from approximately 600-1300ft above sea level and rainfall is over 2m annually. The farm is currently running 600 ewes and 150 ewe lambs running dry. Of the 600 ewes, 400 are Texel mules/Aberfields that are used for the ram compare project, with the remaining 200 mainly welsh mules are used for breeding ewe lamb replacements. Ewes are lambed in doors .

The NI Region expect Rhys to give an inspiring and interesting presentation and he will be available for questions from those present.

More here:

Sheep farmers invited to the NI NSA AGM - Farming Life