Prices up at sheep sale in Ballymena

The average price paid for hoggets was up by £8/head at the first sheep sale of the season held in Ballymena Mart on Saturday.

Overall, 3,900 hoggets averaged £295 on the day, which compares to £287 at the 2025 sale and £241 the year before that.

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The top price of £460 was paid on two occasions for Suffolk Cheviot hoggets. Firstly, to William Donaghy from Rasharkin and then again to Wilson McCurdy from Broughshane.

In the ewe lamb ring, almost 800 sheep were offered up for sale. The average price was £205, which is up £26 when compared to the same sale last year.

Logan Anderson from Kilwaughter received the top three ewe lamb prices of £300, £295 and £285 for his pens of Suffolk Cheviots. See full report on p56.

Pilgrim’s Europe tops company list

Pilgrim’s Europe in NI, formerly known as Moy Park, has been ranked as the largest NI company in terms of turnover.

The annual list, compiled by Ulster Business magazine, shows the poultry processor had sales of £1.96bn in its latest financial accounts, down slightly from £2.04bn the previous year.

In second spot is grain trading company W&R Barnett with a turnover of £1.64bn. In last year’s listing, the Belfast-based firm had turnover of £1.57bn.

The rankings only include firms that make their financial accounts publicly available. Other agri food firms of note include Dale Farm in 10th position on a turnover of £722m and the Foyle Food Group is in 19th place with sales of £545m.

Muir meets UFU over 50 times

Since coming into office in February 2024, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has engaged with representatives from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) over 50 times, data released by DAERA as part of a Freedom of Information request show.

Over the period, there were 33 direct meetings with the UFU, as well as 25 “stakeholder engagements, events or forums” at which UFU representatives were present.

UFU re-launches Next Generation Forum,/ch>

The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), with the support of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU), is relaunching its Next Generation Forum.

Now in its fourth tranche, the forum gives young farmers and growers under 40 the opportunity to become more involved in the work of the UFU. Applications are welcomed from both UFU members and non-members, with the plan to have a maximum of 24 representatives, who will meet approximately five times through the year.

The application form is available on the UFU website and must be completed by Friday 28 August 2026.

Scottish farmers press for a ban

NFU Scotland has joined the UFU in calling for the UK government to mirror the EU approach and ban Brazilian meat imports from 3 September 2026. That ban is coming into force amid concerns about compliance with controls around antibiotic usage and livestock traceability.

Alongside partners, on the Scottish Red Meat Resilience Group, NFU Scotland has written to DEFRA secretary Angela Eagle and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds. In the letter, they argue that Brazilian imports should only be permitted where the South American country can provide “verified and auditable guarantees that products meet equivalent UK standards”.