IN excess of 1,000 sheep farmers were in attendance in the Tullamore Court Hotel last Thursday night to hear IFA President Padraig Walshe say that the future of the e400m sheep sector in Ireland was dependent on securing a new e30 per ewe Sheep Maintenance Payment as part of the CAP Health Check negotiations.
Among those in attendance at the IFA organised meeting was Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, Liam Aylward MEP and Emmanuel Coste who is the head of the sheep section at the French Food Agency and who is also the head of the sheep section of COPA (European Farmers Association.)
