The Mayo-Connemara Sheep Show Society will be celebrating 60 years of breeding at its upcoming annual ram sale, which takes place at 10am (show at 8.30am) on Saturday 25 September in Aurivo Ballinrobe Mart, Co Mayo.

There will be a strong entry of 110 hogget rams, 52 ram lambs and 20 aged rams, with the society offering a €50 premium for rams selling for over €600.

It is encouraging to see that there will be rams on offer which are performance-recorded through the Sheep Ireland breeding programme and, as such, will display genetic evaluations.

Mayo Mountain Blackface Sheep Breeders offering 2,400 sheep

Also on Saturday 25 September, the Mayo Mountain Blackface Sheep Breeders will offer 2,400 females in its 17th annual show and sale.

The group is part of Ólas Hill Farms, a progressive group encompassing 400 farmers which was formerly known as the Mayo Blackface Group.

Similar to the Mayo-Connemara Sheep Society, sheep offered in the sale are either all home-reared or purchased at the sale in the previous years.

This, the group says, ensures consistency of genetics and protects the integrity of breeding programmes which are focused on producing sheep that can excel on a difficult land type. The sale starts at 11am with 1,100 hoggets, followed by 300 mature ewes and then 1,100 ewe lambs.

West of Ireland Lanark Sheep Breeders

On Monday 20 September, the West of Ireland Lanark Sheep Breeders will hold its annual sale at 4pm.

All sheep on offer have been born and bred in the west, with the sale including rams and ewe lambs. There are 55 hogget rams entered and 35 ram lambs, while there is a large offering of 400 ewe hoggets and 500 ewe lambs.

Donegal Texel Breeders

The Donegal Texel Breeders group is holding a special ram breeding sale in Raphoe Mart on Friday 17 September with the show at 5.30pm and the sale at 7pm. There are over 90 quality hogget rams and ram lambs entered and rams which will suit maternal or terminal breeding programmes and lowland or hill enterprises. Bidding is ringside or via the MartBids online sales platform.