We recently caught up with Emma Wharton from Ballyhonock Texels as she prepares for the Premier Sale in Blessington on the 8 and 9 August. Emma didn't grow up on a farm, but both her parents hailed from farming backgrounds. As a child, she spent every weekend on a farm growing up, be it in Cahersiveen in Co Kerry where her dad comes from or where her mother comes from in Killeagh, Co Cork. She has early memories of helping her grandmother and uncle with the sheep and lambing season and she reckons it’s where her love of the game stems from.

Farming alongside her uncle in Killeagh in east Cork, Emma has been breeding Texels for eight years, starting in 2017 when she bought her first ewes off Fergal O'Sé. She noted that she always loved Texels. Prior to becoming a pedigree Texel breeder she would have used Texel rams on her commercial ewes and always felt their progeny ticked a lot of boxes. Commenting on her breeding choices she said “Their excellent fleshing ability off a grass-based diet meant the Texel cross lambs were always getting to market quicker. I work in Dairygold and the increased worm resistance means I spend less time worming and dagging dirty lambs”

The main thing you notice about Emma is her passion for sheep and her desire to spend time with them. She noted that it's great to unwind from a long day at work to walk the fields with the dogs and check on the sheep. She really enjoys picking rams for her ewes at breeding season, focusing on traits from both parents that will complement each other and produce good-quality lambs. She focuses on quality over quantity and does AI and Embryo Transfer on her best ewes and also breeds stock ewes naturally.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I love getting out to shows and sales and meeting all the other breeders and seeing their stock," she says. "It's always a good day out when you come home with a rosette." Earlier this year, she achieved 1st and 3rd prize novice ewe lamb at the Irish Texel Sheep Society's National Championships. These are some of the best females she has produced to date, and she will have the 3rd prize ewe lamb forward for sale at the upcoming Blessington Premier Sale.

Last year was a very successful Premier Sale for her. She sold a full brother (Ballyhonock He's A Star) to this year's prize-winning ewe lambs for €4,200 to a consortium of breeders in NI. "To hear such positive feedback on how well he has bred for them has been great," she says. "That's what you want as a pedigree breeder, to see your stock go on and do well for the next person."

She is really looking forward to the Premier Sale in Blessington next weekend, to catch up with all the other breeders and see the high standard of Texels that will be on show. "It's like Texel heaven!" she said.