A large crowd of buyers and sellers gathered in Roscommon Mart last Friday for the third annual South of Ireland Lanark Sheep Breeders Show and Sale.
There were just under 150 high quality lots catalogued for the sale, and demand was high with both the average price and clearance rate up on the 2023 sale.
William Dunlop of Elmscleugh Farm, Scotland was judge for the pre-sale show. His pick for the female champion came from JP Elmore’s Pointview flock.
This breedy ewe lamb was sired by a son of the £82,000 Loughash and she went on to sell for €850. The reserve female champion was a classy hogget ewe from Brian Curran’s Glackmore Blackface flock and she sold for €820.
Powerful ram
Demand for hogget rams was strong from both pedigree breeders and commercial farmers. The male champion was from Brian Curran, and this powerful ram sold for €2,000 in the ring. This hogget ram was a grandson of the much-admired £30,000 McCurdy.
The hogget ram section top price of €2,200 was for a powerful ram from Tom Staunton’s Maskview flock. He was a direct son of the £10,000 Elmsleugh, and found a new home with Mayo breeders Stephen and David Coen.
Other top prices achieved in the hogget ram section were €1,800 for a hogget from Liam and Kieran Donaghy, and €1,300 was obtained for the second prize hogget ram from Bryan Barber’s Yeats County Blackface flock.
The top price of the night, €5,000, went to the second prize ram lamb, a Loughash son from Gerry Rice’s Mountview flock. This flashy, modern lamb was viewed and admired by many and went on to sell to Donegal breeder Seamus Robinson.
The Mountview flock also claimed the reserve male champion spot with the first prize ram lamb.
This sparky ram lamb showed himself well in the judging and had a good presence. He was a full brother to the top-priced €5,000 lamb and he went on to sell for €2,400.
The second highest price on the night went to Gerry Goss of the Bally flock with his £35,000 Auldhouseburn son that went on to sell for €3,200.
In general, the ram lambs sold for between €400-€600 with a good clearance rate.
The aged rams section saw a top price of €3,000 achieved for a ram from Mark McGeown.
The first prize aged ram, from Charlie Gallagher, sold for €820 and the second prize aged ram, from Brian Curran, sold for €720.
Committee member Tom Staunton commented: “Overall the sale saw a steady trade for the commercial rams with the better sheep meeting good interest from pedigree breeders and going on to sell well.
“The standard of sheep has increased and improved year on year and the members deserve recognition for their commitment and efforts to improve the breed and develop the sale.”