Tips for the Irish

Irish sheep farmers are looking to their New Zealand counterparts for advice on how to make more money tending their flocks. Lincoln University’s Dr John Hickford spoke at two conferences in Kilkenny and Athlone discussing how New Zealand sheep farmers had evolved their business in the absence of subsidies, and about new technologies available to sheep farmers to help increase their profits. Dr Hickford explained that sheep farmers in New Zealand lost all their subsidies in 1987 and were forced overnight to produce in an unprotected environment. The Independent‘s Michael Gottstein wrote that Irish sheep farmers can learn some valuable lessons.