Farmer Writes: mule ewes make it an expensive weekend

Expensive Mule ewes and Mars bars share a few characteristics: they don’t necessarily offer good value for money, and may be considered something of a luxury item.

Both tick the box for ‘‘self-indulgence’’, and plenty of farmers look forward to treating themselves to a few of these items every year.

Also, there is the uncomfortable truth that neither lasts nearly as long as you’d like.

And the similarities don’t end there, because just as you know rightly that an apple or a healthy snack is the sensible alternative over a bar of chocolate, you may also be aware that something 20 or 30 quid cheaper might be the wiser decision when drooling over pretty sheep in the sale ring.

Ballymena

That was certainly the case last Saturday at Ballymena Mart’s annual sale of Mule hoggets.

I’ve no idea what the average price was, but breeding sheep at the top end of the trade were probably 20 quid per head up on last year.

This was both surprising (given the anecdotal evidence from other breeding sales around the country) and, as a buyer, a bit disappointing, although a strong lamb trade into the autumn will help to dull the pain to some extent.

In a country as small as Northern Ireland, you don’t need much of a wave to rock the boat, and it only takes one determined buyer with plenty of funds (maybe not even their own), a requirement for sizeable numbers of ewes, and no upper limit during the bidding process, to bump up the prices across the board.

For some of the vendors with quality hoggets for sale, that were at least partially sucked, last Saturday must have been beyond their wildest dreams.

I saw a few pens of decent stock (and no more than decent) making the guts of £200. Against that, there were pens of fantastic quality unsucked sheep ‘‘only’’ making £185.

Heart or head

Before the sale, I had the usual wrestling match between my heart and my head, and once again the heart won.

So instead of buying a well-bred, good-looking type of commercial sheep for perhaps around £150, I decided to aim for some of the supermodels.

This meant bidding for big, strong pretty things, and I was prepared to pay accordingly.

Even so, I found some of the prices just too eye-watering to understand, and am delighted to say I had the wit to drop out of several pens when they soared to over £190.

Sometimes, it’s all too easy to get carried away during an auction.

In the end, I came home with two pens of sheep, and both lots cost £175.

Far more important than the price, they absolutely please me and after looking at them next day, I have no regrets at all.

And therein probably lies the key to buying livestock at any sale.

It really doesn’t matter whether you are buying those smaller, finer types of ewes, or something the size of a donkey.

The most important factor is that you are happy with the animals, and that they will fit into the system of operation on that particular farm.