Eurosheep was built on 6 steps, and the work was undertaken with the participation of farmers’ networks or European Innovation Partnership Operational Groups.
The six EuroSheep steps were as follows:
1 validation of the farmers’ needs
2 pool of best practices and solutions
3 selection of solutions to be evaluated and tested
4 sustainability analyses of the solutions
5 collecting the end users feedback
6 knowledge transfer and exchange, identification of research gaps
Sheep farmers’ main needs
Thanks to an online survey, 61 nutrition and health management needs were identified by the 8 partner countries. In Europe, the main needs were: knowledge of animal nutritional requirements, grassland and grazing management, mastitis, lameness and internal parasitism management.
Practical solutions, Tips and Tricks and Factsheets
To meet these needs, the farmers, technicians, advisors and researchers participating in the network produced 96 practical solutions, 55 tips and tricks and 26 technical factsheets.
These solutions can be downloaded from the www.eurosheep.network
Sustainability analysis of the solutions
In line with the selection of solutions made by farmers and advisors, the project’s technical and scientific groups undertook sustainability analysis, including: technical-economic, social and environmental factors, for 51 solutions. The main impacts of the EuroSheep solutions are : to increase outputs, to improve animal welfare, to improve farm image and to increase feed efficiency.
The solutions end-users assessments
Following the implementation of 51 of the solutions on commercial and experimental farms, 167 end user assessments (evaluations) were completed by farmers, advisors and other stakeholders. Thirty-eight of these solutions received good evaluations, 3 solutions were not deemed satisfactory by the evaluators in their circumstances and 10 solutions received mixed reviews, depending on the context of system that they had been evaluated in.
Conclusions and outlook
We undertook a cross-analysis of the needs, solutions, factsheets and tips and tricks proposed, to assess which needs were not addressed, and where further research would be warranted. The main gap concerned the rearing of ewe lambs to ensure robustness of the breed, and the nutritional requirements of females during their first gestation and lactation. In terms of health, the heterogeneity of the countries regarding the availability/access to some medicines, or to laboratory for analysis, can limit the implementation of some practical solutions.
Finally, many of the proposed solutions are worth being implemented in different countries, but may require small adaptations, due to different local environment and system of production. It is therefore important to continue disseminating and promoting the re-appropriation of EuroSheep best practices in existing advisory and development organisations. There should be a continued dissemination of the EuroSheep solutions, tips and tricks and factsheets because of their relevance to improving profitability of sheep systems across Europe.
The work was performed in each country with the support of the Sheep-AKIS and the STWG, in a multi-actor and cross-fertilisation approach and shared during the different series of national workshops and transnational workshops with a strong participation and involvement of stakeholders.
For a better and wider communication and dissemination, the EuroSheep Community Platform (www.eurosheep.network) has been setup in 7 languages as well as the social media such as Twitter (@EuroSheepEU), Facebook (
https://www.facebook.com/EuroSheep/(si apre in una nuova finestra)) and Instagram (eurosheepeu)) have been frequently used. Videos have also been realised to advertise EuroSheep. All videos are on the EuroSheep YouTube channel (EuroSheep EU).
