This year, the Irish Texel Sheep Society celebrates 40 years of being one of the dominant terminal sires used in sheep flocks throughout the country.

Established in 1976, the society continues to grow and has in excess of 300 members registered as pedigree Texel breeders. The society says there are thousands of commercial farmers who are using Texel rams for the profitability it brings to their already tight profit margins.

The society is hugely committed to performance recording and has had the biggest participation in the Lambplus Programme since it was established in 2009. According to the society, its involvement with Sheep Ireland has only served to highlight and further promote the Texel breed within Ireland through performance recording.

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Full access to the Irish Texel Sheep Society flock book data and a strong involvement with the CPT programme has resulted in evaluations demonstrating higher accuracies than other breeds.

The society says this has proven very effective in the overall education of farmers and commercial producers to the financial benefits of purchasing and using a star-rated ram throughout their flock.

This year, the Irish Texel Sheep Society will be located in the National Sheep Breeders Association (NSBA) tunnel, located at Block 1, Row 14, Stand 319.

On display will be a mixture of pedigree Texel rams and ewes, and some Hiltex (cross between a Scotch blackface and a Texel ram) will also be present.

Over the course of the three days, it is an ideal opportunity to meet members of the society and seek further information on the most popular terminal breed in Ireland.

Breeders will be present and will be only too happy to answer any questions and queries that you may have relating to the breed.

At the stand this year, there will be a free draw with one litre of Growvite as the first prize.

Throughout the year, the society organises various promotions and draws to keep members and those with an interest in the Texel breed up to date on events within the society. To be included, you can text your name and county to 087-390 7540.

Vendeen ram champion on show

The Irish Vendeen Sheep Society will display the reserve all-Ireland ram Quitrent Odo at its stand at the National Ploughing Championships.

The ram, owned by Kieran Coughlan, Noggus, Ferbane, Co Offaly, also claimed reserve at Tullamore this year.

There will also be two crossbred ewe lambs owned and bred by Damien Conboy, Ballintubber, Co Roscommon, in a bid to demonstrate the favourable grading ability of the breed.

This will be shown alongside a number of factory grading sheets with pictures of carcases and a butcher’s blog.

With over 50 members, the society sees almost 500 lambs registered each year, and the cream of these will go to the autumn ram sales in Dowra 24 September and Enniscorthy 5 October.