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20 April 2022

There is just over a month until the Sheep Veterinary Society (SVS) hosts its Spring conference in Templepatrick, Northern Ireland on 23rd – 25th May 2022.

Booking deadline extended until Monday 9th May 2022.

We are starting our conference countdown with a quick roundup of what’s on offer over the two and a half days.

The programme starts on Monday morning with a workshop covering everything you need to know on liver fluke investigation, diagnostics, control and investigation of potential treatment failures.

That afternoon, following an introduction to sheep farming in Northern Ireland, we are delighted to welcome Keynote Speaker Tommy Boland from University College Dublin discussing the ‘Challenges and opportunities for pasture-based sheep production’, a topic of increasing relevance as feed costs rise. The day ends with an update on regional sheep scab control and responsible medicine use.

The evening sees us incarcerated at the Crumlin Road Gaol for the conference dinner and a bit of history.

The following day we have speakers from all four provinces to educate us on liver and rumen fluke, border disease, ovine mortality and ewe breeding indexes. On a more concerning topic a representative from DEARA NI will be talking on the recent identification of Maedi Visna and its implications for sheep flocks in Northern Ireland.

The afternoon session is a series of short presentations from vets in practice, research and students covering subjects including sheep fertility, colostrum transfer and new test developments. Additionally, Peter Hynes from “Tackle your feelings” will be doing a session on mental health challenges. Hopefully there will be plenty of opportunity for discussion and developing contacts.

To finish we are heading into the beautiful Glens of Antrim for our farm visit on Wednesday morning. The Tweed family has been associated with the farmland since 1647 and run over 3000 ewes over 1600 acres of upland grazing. More recently some of the farm has been used as location for the set of Game of Thrones, a variation on farm diversification.

Our conference is open for all Vets or industry representatives to attend, detailed programme and booking form available via our website SVS Spring Conference in Belfast – Sheep Veterinary Society (sheepvetsoc.org.uk), deadline for booking is Monday 2nd May 2022.

In today’s climate of environmental mindfulness to offset the increased impact of travel to the Belfast conference, especially if flying, we have set up a Just Giving Page with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) charity https://www.tcv.org.uk/northernireland/ .  We would encourage you to donate TCV Belfast & South East – JustGiving. This charity does excellent work in environment enhancement and improved access to all.

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The SVS is the leading UK professional society who specialise in sheep health and welfare.

In joining our society you can expect information and support relating to sheep veterinary care including: access to our private members forum, and support from veterinarians experts for their interest and knowledge in sheep related care.

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