CONTINUOUS rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the thousands of sheep producers attending North Sheep 2005 on Wednesday of last week.

The event held at Cumbrian agri-businessman Allan Jenkinson's Whinfell Park, where industry leaders expressed optimism about the future, despite the massive changes facing UK agriculture under the new Single Payment Scheme.

Whinfell Park is the central unit of Mr Jenkinson's 1,700-acre estate. A 2,400 North of England Mule flock, along with 800 Texel cross ewes, form the main enterprise.

As well as tours of the farm. visitors were able to look at more than 40 sheep breed stands, and more than 140 trade stands, as well as watching sheepdog trials and listening to a series of seminars from industry leaders.

Officially opening the event, National Sheep Association chief executive John Thorley said he believed the prospects for sheep farming were as good as they had been for some time, even in the face of major changes with the new SFP scheme.

"I take the view that the pendulum, which has been swinging away from what's good for sheep farming, is starting to swing back, certainly insofar as the political side is concerned," he said. "For far too long, we have been the subject of ever-greater rules from Brussels, and ever-increasing downward price pressure from supermarkets and the large abattoirs."

Mr Thorley said that France's "no" vote to the European Constitution had to be good news which could have very significant consequences. "This gradual but inexorable tightening of the slip-knot to the point where individual country initiative has been stifled goes well beyond the original concept of the founding fathers of the Common Market," he added.

New opportunities for exporting both breeding livestock and finished lamb and beef were presented to producers.

North Yorkshire County Council is financing a year-long pilot project with a view to developing new business abroad and there are plans to extend the project across the Northern counties of England, including Cumbria and Northumbria.

Romanian sheep industry representatives attended North Sheep as part of a four-day mission financed by NYCC's export development programme.

Describing the unique project, mission organiser Len Chamberlain said: "So far we have visited France and Germany and entertained French and Italian inward missions to Yorkshire-based companies. There are plans to extend the project across the three northern regions.

"The project embraces the whole of the food chain from primary producers and auction marts to processors and it is intended to raise awareness of markets outside the domestic market."

Henry Lewis, MLC exports group manager, told producers attending the event's breakfast seminar that there were many reasons for encouraging sheep exports - the UK had Europe's largest sheep industry, made up of many breeds, and producers were breeding for scrapie resistance.

"The sheep sector, for various reasons, has not exported to the same extent as the cattle and pig industry. Probably about 10,000 breeding sheep are currently exported from the UK," he said.

At North Sheep the English Beef and Lamb Executive's Better Returns Programme unveiled a number of initiatives, including a scheme to offer English producers a free £200 voucher towards new weighing equipment.

The programme, which runs to the end of December, also launched its Recorded Flocks Directory, which lists English flocks recording with MLC Signet, together with BRP breed benchmarks and ram buying tips.