Farmer focus: John Joe Fitzgerald – a hill farm in transition

John Joe Fitzgerald, a participant in the Teagasc BETTER farm sheep programme and the new Teagasc Signpost Programme joins Ciarán Lynch on the latest farmer focus on OviCast. John Joe first describes his farming system with some insights into the type of hill he is working on five miles west of Dingle in county Kerry. He then discusses his ewe flock, the breeds used and how it has transitioned during the past few years as he pushed the flock back onto the hill more. John Joe explains the new handling facility he built which includes a dipping tank and batch footbath and how this has improved flock health, performance and the efficiency of carrying out basic tasks with the flock. Finally he discusses selling this year’s lamb crop in the store lamb market. For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast