While sheep production has an important place in many farming systems across the world, sheep products face an increasingly competitive market. In addition to traditional concerns about product quality, consumers are also increasingly motivated by issues such as livestock welfare, greenhouse gas emissions and the sustainability of production to maintain or enhance natural capital.
Advances in sheep production provides a comprehensive review of these challenges and the specific measures implementable to improve sustainability, animal health and product quality. The book also considers the contribution of breeding to improving non-production traits, management practices to improve lifetime health and performance, as well as ways of monitoring and improving health, welfare and nutrition.
In providing a detailed overview of the current status of sheep production, the book showcases the areas where improvement is required to achieve optimum sustainability, health, welfare and nutrition, as well as product quality.
Dr Cathy Dwyer is Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare at SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College) and has a joint appointment with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh where she is the Director of the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education (JMICAWE) since 2016. In 2019 she was also appointed by Scottish Government to Chair the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission which provides independent scientific advice on animal welfare to Ministers. Professor Dwyer has published more than 150 papers and book chapters on animal behaviour, welfare and early life development and sits on the scientific advisory committees for Dog’s Trust, the Horse Trust, British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation and University of Vienna Veterinary School.
David Barker is a Professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University (2000-present). He currently serves as department Associate Chair, with responsibility for Academic Programs. Dr Barker’s program focuses mainly on grassland management. His research has included grazing management, species and biodiversity effects on production, effects of soil water, effects of fungal endophytes and modelling forage growth. His current research is on the ecology of the native clover Trifolium stoloniferum.
Lesley Stubbings is an independent consultant and a former Principal Sheep Consultant with ADAS in the UK. She is recipient of both an OBE from the UK Government and the George Hedley Memorial Award from the UK National Sheep Association for her outstanding contribution to the British sheep sector. She is an Honorary Life Member of the Sheep Veterinary Society and a leading figure in the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) Group which is acknowledged as a world leader in integrated parasite control.
Kate Phillips is an independent consultant for the UK sheep sector and former Principal Livestock Consultant with ADAS. She is also a Regional Advisor for the Moredun Foundation and was a Senior Lecturer at Harper Adams University teaching ruminant production and nutrition. She is widely recognised for her expertise in aspects of sheep nutrition, welfare and health issues such as lameness and scab.
