Held on Tuesday 14th February at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, the Live in London event marked the culmination of the Sheep Better Returns Programme (BRP), the two year programme designed to help English sheep producers hone their selection, breeding and marketing skills and which comprised hands-on, practical training sessions at auction markets, abattoirs and farms across England.
The event aimed to persuade Defra, Regional Development Agencies and others who fund development programmes and make rural policy, to continue and extend funding for the EBLEX Sheep BRP and so underpin a sustainable sheep sector in the uplands and countryside of England.
Sheep were brought in from Writtle College's Lordship Flock on the morning of the event and provided with comfortable, bedded pens, feed and water in their temporary accommodation in The QEIICC.
|
Lord Bach, Minister for Sustainable Farming and Food, Defra looks at some Suffolk cross lambs from the Lordship Flock. |
In the afternoon there were four demonstrations of how EBLEX trained or advised farmers, including 'How to select sheep for market', 'Using performance measures to select the right rams/tups'. There was also a demonstration on consumer preference for lean meat cuts.
 |
EBLEX explained how the Sheep BRP project reached and achieved its targets, presenting formal project evaluation and showing the audience the full range of educational materials, including sheep management and marketing manuals, interactive software and DVD packs for colleges. The event was addressed by Lord Bach, Minister for Sustainable Farming and Food, Defra.
|
Sam Boon from Signet with a Suffolk ram |
| Shadow Agricultural minister Bill Wiggins |
 |