The Mayo Mule and Greyface Group is the country’s longest-standing group marketing Mule and Greyface sheep and is this year celebrating 40 years since its establishment. Group sales during this time have grown in association with Ballinrobe Mart with the sale venue now a mainstay with the breed.
The group has grown significantly from humble beginnings with just 50 lambs offered in the inaugural sale, with the success of the group characterised in sales figures peaking at over 5,000 sheep in recent years.
There are now in the region of 60 members, 40 members producing Mules and 20 hogget producers purchasing ewe lambs and selling hoggets.
Breeding goals
The founding members of the group were Tom Staunton and Hugh Kelly.
Tom explains the group came about from a breed improvement initiative driven by the Department of Agriculture and ACOT (Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta), the national advisory and training body which amalgamated with AFT (An Foras Taluntais) to form Teagasc.
At the time, the Mule breed (Bluefaced Leicester x Scottish Blackface) was performing successfully in Scotland and northern England and was part of a stratified breeding programme.
Scottish Blackface sheep were run and bred pure on harder hills with Bluefaced Leicester rams joined with ewes on greener hills or more productive upland areas.
The resulting Mule progeny were transferred to lowland farms where male store lambs were finished and suitable ewe lambs were incorporated into flocks as good maternal replacements offering higher prolificacy.
In 1984, the Department of Agriculture imported Bluefaced Leicester rams with the aim of establishing a similar stratified breeding programme and improving the performance of sheep in more marginal land areas.
Tom and Hugh Kelly expressed an interest in using the new genetics after seeing the results from rams being used in a local hill research station. The results were immediate, with ewe lambs selling in their first year for £52 (€61) per head.
To put this into perspective, Galway x Scottish Blackface progeny were selling for £20 to £30 (€23 to €35) per head at the same time. Tom offered 20 lambs in the first sale and Hugh offered 30 lambs for sale. The following year, lambs averaged £72 (€84) per head and in 1987 Tom made a decision to breed some Bluefaced Leicester sheep and purchased five hoggets from a breeder in Tyrone.
The group was formed and run in association with the Department in the early years with progeny offered for sale checked and approved by the Department prior to selling.
There were similar breeding initiatives in Sligo, Donegal, Waterford and other hill areas but these fell by the wayside. After three to four years, control of the group was transferred entirely to farmer members with a formal committee established.
In the early years of the group, it was actually the Greyface breed (Border Leicester x Scottish Blackface) which was the more prominent and it accounted for 70% of sales throughput.
Breeders preferred the Border Leicester as it was perceived to be less of a step away from the Galway breed which was dominant in crossbreeding strategies.
Prices for Mule sheep were typically stronger and in today’s sales less than 3% to 5% of the sale entry are Greyface.
Tom also credits the introduction of Lanark genetics in the 1990s as having a profound improvement.
“Lambs had a much tighter skin and it had a big effect in improving the conformation of lambs and carcase value. A store with a bigger frame to carry weight improved the sales value of male lambs while the cross also gave rise to nicer speckle-faced lambs which were more sought after.”
Such developments were quickly adopted by some group members with other more traditionally minded breeders slower to move away from the Mayo Connemara Scottish Blackface strain.
Likewise, the switch from the traditional Bluefaced Leicester ram to speckle-faced, so-called crossing types has been another development said to have a profound impact.
Aside from breeding developments, the group has experienced many different changes during its tenure.
Group secretary Oliver Cawley notes that a link-up and shared office with the Mayo Blackface Group and the South Mayo Producer Group has transformed the administrative tasks and made the group much more professionally run.
The construction of a sales ring in association with Aurivo Mart Ballinrobe has also greatly improved the sales experience of buyers and, while initially more challenging, the introduction of online sales platforms has been a significant boost.
Group Chair Thomas Carter also heralds the commitment of group members in keeping the group running through challenging times.
Forty years of breeding and trading for the group and the mart will be celebrated at its premier sale of hoggets on Friday 23 August and ewe lambs on Saturday 24 August.
Mules were introduced to Ireland via a breeding initiative to improve the quality of sheep in hill areas. The Mayo Mule and Greyface Group are among the oldest breeding groups still active.
The Mayo Mule and Greyface Group is the country’s longest-standing group marketing Mule and Greyface sheep and is this year celebrating 40 years since its establishment. Group sales during this time have grown in association with Ballinrobe Mart with the sale venue now a mainstay with the breed.
The group has grown significantly from humble beginnings with just 50 lambs offered in the inaugural sale, with the success of the group characterised in sales figures peaking at over 5,000 sheep in recent years.
There are now in the region of 60 members, 40 members producing Mules and 20 hogget producers purchasing ewe lambs and selling hoggets.
Breeding goals
The founding members of the group were Tom Staunton and Hugh Kelly.
Tom explains the group came about from a breed improvement initiative driven by the Department of Agriculture and ACOT (Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta), the national advisory and training body which amalgamated with AFT (An Foras Taluntais) to form Teagasc.
At the time, the Mule breed (Bluefaced Leicester x Scottish Blackface) was performing successfully in Scotland and northern England and was part of a stratified breeding programme.
Scottish Blackface sheep were run and bred pure on harder hills with Bluefaced Leicester rams joined with ewes on greener hills or more productive upland areas.
The resulting Mule progeny were transferred to lowland farms where male store lambs were finished and suitable ewe lambs were incorporated into flocks as good maternal replacements offering higher prolificacy.
In 1984, the Department of Agriculture imported Bluefaced Leicester rams with the aim of establishing a similar stratified breeding programme and improving the performance of sheep in more marginal land areas.
Tom and Hugh Kelly expressed an interest in using the new genetics after seeing the results from rams being used in a local hill research station. The results were immediate, with ewe lambs selling in their first year for £52 (€61) per head.
To put this into perspective, Galway x Scottish Blackface progeny were selling for £20 to £30 (€23 to €35) per head at the same time. Tom offered 20 lambs in the first sale and Hugh offered 30 lambs for sale. The following year, lambs averaged £72 (€84) per head and in 1987 Tom made a decision to breed some Bluefaced Leicester sheep and purchased five hoggets from a breeder in Tyrone.
The group was formed and run in association with the Department in the early years with progeny offered for sale checked and approved by the Department prior to selling.
There were similar breeding initiatives in Sligo, Donegal, Waterford and other hill areas but these fell by the wayside. After three to four years, control of the group was transferred entirely to farmer members with a formal committee established.
In the early years of the group, it was actually the Greyface breed (Border Leicester x Scottish Blackface) which was the more prominent and it accounted for 70% of sales throughput.
Breeders preferred the Border Leicester as it was perceived to be less of a step away from the Galway breed which was dominant in crossbreeding strategies.
Prices for Mule sheep were typically stronger and in today’s sales less than 3% to 5% of the sale entry are Greyface.
Tom also credits the introduction of Lanark genetics in the 1990s as having a profound improvement.
“Lambs had a much tighter skin and it had a big effect in improving the conformation of lambs and carcase value. A store with a bigger frame to carry weight improved the sales value of male lambs while the cross also gave rise to nicer speckle-faced lambs which were more sought after.”
Such developments were quickly adopted by some group members with other more traditionally minded breeders slower to move away from the Mayo Connemara Scottish Blackface strain.
Likewise, the switch from the traditional Bluefaced Leicester ram to speckle-faced, so-called crossing types has been another development said to have a profound impact.
Aside from breeding developments, the group has experienced many different changes during its tenure.
Group secretary Oliver Cawley notes that a link-up and shared office with the Mayo Blackface Group and the South Mayo Producer Group has transformed the administrative tasks and made the group much more professionally run.
The construction of a sales ring in association with Aurivo Mart Ballinrobe has also greatly improved the sales experience of buyers and, while initially more challenging, the introduction of online sales platforms has been a significant boost.
Group Chair Thomas Carter also heralds the commitment of group members in keeping the group running through challenging times.
Forty years of breeding and trading for the group and the mart will be celebrated at its premier sale of hoggets on Friday 23 August and ewe lambs on Saturday 24 August.
Mules were introduced to Ireland via a breeding initiative to improve the quality of sheep in hill areas. The Mayo Mule and Greyface Group are among the oldest breeding groups still active. 
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