Milford Sheep Breeders sale peaks at €315/head
The Milford Sheep Breeders Society had its second annual show and sale on Monday 4 September.
An exceptional display of quality was on offer, including 80 hogget ewes, 250 ewe lambs and 20 rams, and was met with great demand and some exceptional prices to match.
The pre-sale show saw Roy Moorehead winning the pairs of hoggets and Martin Friel winning the pair of ewe lambs.
Pen of hoggets was secured by Liam Ferry, while Pat McClafferty took top spot for the pen of ewe lambs. Pat was also out in front in the ram class, with Rachel Gallagher in second and Daniel Gallagher claiming third.
The sale started with the champion pair of ewe hoggets, sold by Roy Moorehead, fetching €315 after some fierce bidding – secured by Pat Mc Clafferty.
The champion pen of hoggets from Liam Ferry then followed, being sold for €270 each, these being bought by Daniel Gallagher.
A further eight pens of hoggets went on to sell from €205 to €265/head and the average price for hoggets was well above the €200/ head mark.
Ewe lambs
This hogget trade resulted in a very brisk ewe lamb trade, with local breeders competing with buyers from all parts of the country. Ewe lambs topped at €255/head for the champions from Martin Friel, these being purchased by Dwayne Shiels.
Several other top-quality lots continued the sharp trade, with calls of between €160 and €200 frequently received from auctioneer on the night Robert Gourley. The majority of lambs were sold between the €125 and €150 range, and there was customers for all lambs on offer, with lighter lambs selling from €100 to €120. The rams sold to a top of €400 for a shearling ram from Dwayne Shiels, being sold to new Galway breeder Micheal Kilkelly, and continued with a steady trade throughout.
Speaking after the sale, society chair Dwayne Shiels said: “The Milford Sheep Breeders Society would like to thank all customers and wishes them the best of luck with their purchases. We look forward to the second sale on Monday 2 October.”
Sheep Ireland sale sees 84% clearance
There was an 84% clearance rate at the seventh annual Sheep Ireland elite €uro-Star multi-breed ram sale at the weekend. A total of 306 lots were entered in this year’s sale across seven sheep breeds, a record number.
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 performance recording.
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.
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.
Breeds
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%.
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 to a top of €910.
The Suffolk breed was next, with a top price of €940 going for Susan O’Keeffe’s ram, which was purchased by Michael McKiernan, Co Westmeath.
Fifty-two Suffolk lots passed through the ring and achieved a clearance of 96%. The average price was €582.
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 to an average price of €420, with a top of €480.
For the Texels, a top price of €780 was realised for an Anne Murphy ram, which was purchased by Patrick Concannon, Co Roscommon.
Overall, the 70 Texel lots went through sales ring one 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, which was purchased by a commercial flock owner.
Overall clearance within this breed was 73%, with an average sale price of €491.
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.
This ram was purchased by Belclare breeders Eoghan and Larry Barrett.
95th Galway sheep sale for Athenry
The Galway Sheep Breeders Association will this year host its 95th annual show and sale of pedigree registered Galway Sheep. The sale, set for Athenry Livestock Market, will take place on Monday 18 September, with the show taking place at 11am and the sale directly after at approximately 1pm.
Entries for the sale have remained stable on last year, with around 30 rams and 100 females forward. This is the only pedigree-registered Galway sheep sale in the country, so it attracts the best of sheep. Adding to the quality, all sheep present will undergo a thorough inspection pre-show.
Two days before the show, on Saturday 16 September, Mountbellow Agricultural Show will be the host grounds for the all-Ireland pair of Galway lambs. This class brings out the best the breed has to offer and always draws a big crowd of both entries and spectators.
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