I farm: “A pedigree Suffolk flock of 80 ewes and 40 hoggets. I have kept Suffolks for 35 years and have been used to them since the time I was born.
"We keep another 70 commercial ewes as well. I am surrounded by dairy on all sides, being just between Mallow and Mitchelstown, but my passion is breeding and showing sheep.”
Suffolks: “They are very versatile sheep, being quick finishing, easy to flesh and nice length. They have something to give on both the terminal and maternal sides, so are well-suited to the commercial farmer.
"They really are the mainstay of commercial flocks and even though you see newer breeds come into fashion or get trendy, farmers always come back to the Suffolk.”
Pedigree Suffolk lamb rams. \ Donal O' Leary
Exporting sheep: “This year, the champion open ram lamb I showed at the Northern branch export sale went to Scotland after selling for £3,000 (€3,510). Romania would be the furthest away I have exported sheep. I would have exported sheep to France, Spain and Italy. The demand is there for shearling ewes and rams too.”
Show season: “Like any sheep farmer, I am busy when they’re lambing – the pedigrees from January and the commercials in March – but there’s another busy spell for the shows in summer. I think we all realised during COVID-19 how important they are. They let you show off your passion and they can be a barometer for how your breeding is going. The social side to it is huge as well.”
Commercial buyers: “It’s a pedigree flock, but it all comes back to commercial buyers. We sell a certain amount to other pedigree flocks, but we see good commercial turnout at the Suffolk sales. We will be sending 14 rams to the Sheep Ireland multi-breed ram sale on Saturday in Tullamore and we usually get repeat customers there.”
Stars v looks: ”We have been involved with Sheep Ireland going back a good while. The Sheep Improvement Scheme is definitely driving up demand for star-rated rams.
"But we can’t only breed based on stars, it helps the decision but it can’t base a decision to breed only on stars.”
I farm: “A pedigree Suffolk flock of 80 ewes and 40 hoggets. I have kept Suffolks for 35 years and have been used to them since the time I was born.
"We keep another 70 commercial ewes as well. I am surrounded by dairy on all sides, being just between Mallow and Mitchelstown, but my passion is breeding and showing sheep.”
Suffolks: “They are very versatile sheep, being quick finishing, easy to flesh and nice length. They have something to give on both the terminal and maternal sides, so are well-suited to the commercial farmer.
"They really are the mainstay of commercial flocks and even though you see newer breeds come into fashion or get trendy, farmers always come back to the Suffolk.”
Pedigree Suffolk lamb rams. \ Donal O' Leary
Exporting sheep: “This year, the champion open ram lamb I showed at the Northern branch export sale went to Scotland after selling for £3,000 (€3,510). Romania would be the furthest away I have exported sheep. I would have exported sheep to France, Spain and Italy. The demand is there for shearling ewes and rams too.”
Show season: “Like any sheep farmer, I am busy when they’re lambing – the pedigrees from January and the commercials in March – but there’s another busy spell for the shows in summer. I think we all realised during COVID-19 how important they are. They let you show off your passion and they can be a barometer for how your breeding is going. The social side to it is huge as well.”
Commercial buyers: “It’s a pedigree flock, but it all comes back to commercial buyers. We sell a certain amount to other pedigree flocks, but we see good commercial turnout at the Suffolk sales. We will be sending 14 rams to the Sheep Ireland multi-breed ram sale on Saturday in Tullamore and we usually get repeat customers there.”
Stars v looks: ”We have been involved with Sheep Ireland going back a good while. The Sheep Improvement Scheme is definitely driving up demand for star-rated rams.
"But we can’t only breed based on stars, it helps the decision but it can’t base a decision to breed only on stars.”
SHARING OPTIONS