Sheep Ireland’s recent ram sale recorded a 72% clearance, or 118 rams sold from a total entry of 165 lots.

Eamon Wall of Sheep Ireland said a disappointing aspect of the sale was a number of pre-entered rams not showing up, but says this will be addressed for future sales. Leaving this aside, he said the trade for good quality rams was brisk. All rams on offer possessed €uro-Star indices with a minimum of five stars for one or more traits.

The average price paid for Charollais rams was €525, with a top price of €720 for a ram in the top 1% for both terminal and replacement index. The average price paid for Texel rams was €465, with a top price of €880 for a ram in the top 5% for terminal and replacement index and possessing good accuracy levels. Demand for Suffolks was also strong, with an average of €550 for all rams. The top-priced Suffolk ram was also the highest price in the sale at €1,000 with a number of rams selling between €700 and €800. Nine Belclare rams averaged €545, with a top price paid of €680 for a ram lamb with a very favourable days-to-slaughter index. Three Vendeen rams averaged €433 and a top price of €460. Eamon said that while there were some good prices paid for exceptional rams, there were also a number of lower-priced, very high-index rams available, with many selling for between €300 and €400.

Strong performance at Mayo Mule and Greyface sale

The Mayo Mule and Greyface group held the first of their special breeding sales in Aurivo Mart, Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, on Friday last. The sale, now in its 30th year, followed the strong performance of previous years, with buyers attending from all over the country and a full clearance of about 2,500 hoggets and ewe lambs. Prices for comparable quality hoggets were reported as up by €20 on average on last year’s prices, with animals reported to be showing the better of a favourable grazing season and good grass availability.

Hogget prices ranged from €145 to €190, with prize winners selling to a top of €215/head. The trade for ewe lambs fit for breeding was firm, with prices ranging from €120 to €170. A small number of exceptional- quality lots sold from €170/head to €200/head, with prize-winning ewe lambs selling to €234/head.

Lighter ewe lambs also attracted stronger bidding than previous years, with only four lots selling below €100/head. The second sale of 1,200 ewe lambs and 300 hoggets takes place on Saturday 13 September.

Farmer group sales

There are a number of farmer-organised ram sales taking place in the next week. Roscommon prolific Lowland Replacements are offering an entry of 200 top-quality ewe lambs in conjunction with the normal weekly sheep sale in Ballinasloe Mart, Co Galway, this evening (Thursday) at 6pm. On Friday 5 September at 11am the South Mayo Lamb Producers Group is holding a sale of 450 Suffolk ewe hoggets and 350 Suffolk ewe lambs in Aurivo mart Ballinrobe, Co Mayo.

Cooley Sheep Breeders are holding their fourth annual show and sale next Saturday 6 September in Carlingford. To-date, there are 1,800 ewes and ewe lambs entered for the sale with all sheep bred on the Cooley peninsula.