In pictures: 84% clearance at annual Sheep Ireland ram sale

A total of 306 lots were entered in this year’s Sheep Ireland Elite €uroStar multi-breed ram sale, a record number, across seven sheep breeds.

With huge numbers expected, a second sales ring was introduced for the sale, with organisers saying that the growth in entries and buyers attending highlights the increased interest in and awareness of performance recording.

On the day there was an average sale price of €540, with a top price of €940 for Susan O’Keeffe’s Suffolk ram.

There were rams for all budgets, with prices starting from €280.

Eligibility

Rams for sale went through a physical inspection upon entry.

Each ram also had to meet a high entry criteria in terms of their genetic evaluation information – all rams had to be five-star on the terminal or replacement index, while minimum accuracy of 35% was also required.

The breeder’s Data Quality Index (DQI) needed to be at least 60% while the breeder’s flock needed to have an ultrasound scan of muscle and fat carried out in 2017.

First up was the Vendéen breed, with Noggus Robben from Ciaran Coughlan topping prices at €910.

The ram has a terminal index in the top 11% of the breed with a 40% accuracy on that index and Coughlan’s flock DQI is a healthy 70%.

Commercial farmer Michael McGrath from Co Westmeath was the purchaser of Noggus Robben.

Overall, 13 Vendéen rams went through the ring and they saw an 85% clearance. The average price achieved was €526 with rams selling from €380 up to the top price of €910.

The Suffolk breed was up next, with a top price of €940 going for Susan O’Keeffe’s ram (lot 27), which was purchased by Michael McKiernan, Co Westmeath.

Fifty-two Suffolk lots passed through the ring and achieved an clearance of 96%. The average price for a Suffolk ram on the day was €582.

Eamonn Duffy from Kells, Co Meath, achieved the top average of the Suffolk breed and the entire sale with an average price of €770 for his four Suffolk entries which all sported a five-star index for both the replacement and terminal indexes. All four rams presented were within the top 10% for both traits.

There were four entries of Rouge de l’Ouest rams from Co Wexford breeder Anne Murphy at this year’s sale.

All four rams sold on the day to an average price of €420, with a top price of €480 for lot 77 which went to commercial farmer John Healion from Co Westmeath.

This ram was a double five-star ram with a strong accuracy percentage on both the replacement and terminal index.

For the Texels, a top price of €780 was realised for an Anne Murphy ram (lot 128) which was purchased by Patrick Concannon, Co Roscommon.

This ram is in the top 5% for the Texel breed on the days to slaughter index. He was also five-star on both the replacement and terminal indexes.

Texel breeder Anne Murphy exiting the sales ring with lots 127 and 128, which sold for €610 and €780, respectively. Lot 128 was the highest-priced Texel on the day and was five-star on both the replacement and terminal indexes. Anne Murphy has an excellent DQI of 93%.

The ram also had CPT data in its ancestry background which has helped to boost the ram’s accuracy percentage.

Overall, the 70 Texel lots went through sales ring one on the day, with a clearance of 89% recorded and an average sale price of €540.

Meanwhile, in sales ring two, the Charollais was first up, which had the largest entry of rams in the sale.

The top price here was €750 for a Maria Philpott ram (lot 207) which was purchased by a commercial flock owner.

Two Charollais rams waiting to enter the sales ring – the overall clearance within this breed was 73%, with an average sale price of €491.

Overall clearance within this breed was 73%, with an average sale price of €491. Rams sold from €350 and rams with a very strong terminal index seemed to find the best demand here.

Some 23 lots of Belclare rams were the second and final breed into sales ring two, with a clearance rate of 87%.

An average price of €586 was achieved, which was the top average across the sale.

Top price on the day was €880 for a John Renehan ram, Violet Hill Baola (lot 293). This ram was purchased by Belclare breeders Eoghan and Larry Barrett.

This ram himself was a past participant in the Sheep Ireland CPT programme and as result as excellent accuracies for both the replacement and terminal indexes, which are 69% and 81%, respectively. The ram is five-star on both the replacement (top 4%) and terminal (top 2%) indexes.

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