Tipperary sheep farmer to highlight findings of report at prestigious event in Dublin

Sheep milk farmer, Brendan Crosse from Cashel in county Tipperary, has recently completed a Nuffield Scholarship where he explored the potential for the Irish sheep milk industry.

He will present his findings on his study: “Creating alternative primary agri-food industries: The feasibility of establishing a large-scale sheep milk industry in Ireland” at a prestigious event in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin on Friday, November 18.

Along with his co-founder and brother Michael, Brendan’s business, Sheep Milk Ireland Ltd, is currently supplying a number of cheesemakers across Munster, most notably, Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers.

Speaking about the findings in his report, Brendan said: “While Ireland is a world-class leader in grass-based dairy and meat production, and one of the countries most densely populated with sheep, sheep milk production is only very limited in Ireland.

"Yet, sheep milk has significant dietary benefits - it can be drunk by most who are lactose intolerant - and has major tradition elsewhere in Europe and beyond in the production of some of the world’s best and most famous cheeses.”

Nuffield Ireland Annual Conference

The Nuffield Ireland conference takes place on Friday, November 18, 2022 in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin. The theme for this year’s event, which will feature a range of panel discussions and presentations is: “Moving way beyond greenwashing: developing solutions for a ‘net positive’ agriculture”.

Joe Leonard, Chair, Nuffield Ireland said: “With so much antagonistic and polarised debate on how agriculture can adequately address the enormous climate challenge, our farmers are experiencing huge amounts of additional stress and it is very difficult to see a way forward.

“Never before has leadership been more important in order to meet our country’s climate ambitions in a realistic way.

“I believe that Nuffield Ireland has a role to play in helping to encourage reconciliation on both sides of the debate in order to encourage all parties to work together in developing solutions. I believe that the almost hostile approach to the debate is adding more stress to farmers who are already feeling immense pressure. We need to encourage balanced dialogue in order to ensure the sustainability of our agricultural sector, both from an economic and mental wellbeing perspective.”

Tickets can be purchased on www.nuffield.ie.