Sheep Demo: Efficiency Through Innovation

The AgriScot Sheep Demonstrations will showcase how technology can transform the daily grind of sheep handling into a faster, safer, and more profitable operation.

Leading the sessions once again will be Cammy Wilson, better known to many as The Sheep Game, who will demonstrate Te Pari’s Racewell system – an all-in-one solution that’s rewriting the rules on what one person can achieve in a handling system.

According to Giles Devenish from Te Pari, the demonstrations will focus squarely on efficiency gains that matter. “It’s about improving the day-to-day efficiency on-farm, but not only that, there’s also the safety of the livestock and people themselves,” he explains. “The company’s purpose ‘real food and better life’ underpins everything we do.”

The Racewell system integrates weighing, EID recording, auto-drafting, and automatic dose calibration into one streamlined process. But it’s the new smart features that will demonstrate how far sheep handling technology has evolved.

Visitors will see the new auto-release function that means once you’ve pulled the trigger on the dosing gun, the sheep being dosed is automatically released with no need to press additional pedals or buttons. The system now also prevents double-dosing by mistake, while a simple double-tap on the tablet screen allows re-administration if an animal spits out an oral treatment.

For farmers focused purely on sorting stock, ID-only drafting offers substantial time savings. “If you don’t need to record a weight, it is significantly quicker,” says Devenish. Quota drafting takes this further, automatically stopping once a target number for a specific gate is reached – ideal for preparing animals for sale or transport.

“It’s good for farmers to get out and see new technology and its capabilities. The sheep demo at AgriScot is a great opportunity for farmers to see what they could do to improve their efficiency on the farm,” explains Devenish. “Who doesn’t want to become more efficient, save more money, make more money, and have a better life?”

Alongside the technology demonstrations, the sheep sessions will also feature a sheep dressing demo at 12.30pm from two rising stars on the sheep scene – James Goldie (14) and his cousin Michael Neill (13) – who are making quite the name for themselves despite their youth.

The pair were the overall winners at the NSA Scotland/RHASS Lamb Dressing Competition at the Royal Highland Show and haven’t stopped there – they went on to dress 120 tups ahead of the Kelso sale in September. “We’ve done sheep dressing for the last two years, and together Michael and I won the trophy at the Highland Show, so it’s nice to finish off the year doing something like this at AgriScot,” says Goldie.

For Neill, the appeal is straightforward. “I like the way sheep turn out when they’re dressed compared to how they look when you start off – it’s a very satisfying job,” he explains. Having met Cammy Wilson a few times before, the pair are looking forward to helping him at the handling demonstrations too.

With practical technology, interactive discussions, and the next generation showcasing traditional skills, AgriScot’s livestock demonstrations promise something for everyone – whether you’re running a dairy or beef enterprise, managing a sheep flock, or simply looking for ways to work more efficiently.

The Sheep Handling Demonstration will take place outside the Upland Hall at 10.30am and 2.00pm.

The Sheep Dressing Demonstration will take place at 12.30pm at the same location.