In total, 186 rams went under the hammer with clearance rate of between 70% and 75%.

Speaking after the 65th staging of the event, chair of the association Dan McCarthy expressed frustration with how the sale went.

“It was a very unsatisfactory sale, there are no customers for Scotch sheep but we have seen it before, it tends to happen every five or six years.

“There was a high standard of sheep but not enough customers to buy rams. Lots of mountain sheep farmers are gone over to terminal rams on half their flock so this year’s sale was an awful tough one.

“Farmers are getting nothing for Scotch wether lambs and that’s the main cause of the problem.”

Prices

Prices averaged at around €380 for a ram with a good proportion making between €350 to €450 per head while there was a good few rams making €200 to €300.