Tullywinney pedigree Suffolks was established by Patrick McVerry in 2008 and, in a very short space of time, has become recognised as one of the top pedigree flocks in the country.

This year, Tullywinney Suffolks were named as the champion flock in the Suffolk sheep society NI branch flock competition. Visitors to Patrick’s farm near Camlough, Co Armagh, were able to see his sheep last Wednesday at an open evening.

The Tullywinney flock consists of 29 ewes, 11 ram lambs and three ewe lambs.

Patrick started the flock by purchasing nine breeding ewes at a dispersal sale in Anglesey, Wales, when he returned home after living and working in Belfast for five years.

Since then, he has bought breeding stock, as well as retaining the best of his own breeding. In 2013, he paid £3,300 for a ewe, which is his most expensive purchase to date.

“Last spring, I lambed about 20 ewes. The year before I sold off a lot of my poorer ewes and so streamlined the flock; something that probably allowed me to do well in the overall flock competitions this year,” Patrick said.

The flock competition is divided in two; one section for flocks with under 30 ewes and one for over 30. The winners of each section are then compared to decide the overall champion flock. In 2012, Tullywinney Suffolks was the champion small flock in Northern Ireland and the following year was placed second in the UK small flock category.

This year, the competition was judged by Suffolk breeder Jan De Roock from Belgium. Judging took place on all ewes in the flock, a stock ram and three ewe lambs in the small flock category or six in the large flock.

All pedigree ewes at Tullywinney are artificially inseminated at breeding, so Patrick only runs a stock ram to tup repeats, as well as his 40 commercial ewes.

This year will be the first time Patrick will be selling sheep at the main Scottish Suffolk sale in Stirling. He plans to take three ram lambs and then two to the NI main sale in Ballymena. The rest of his ram lambs will be sold at local sales and privately.

Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson has said that organic farming should be included in the next Rural Development Programme (RDP).

“Sinn Féin has long been supportive of organic farming and wants to see this sector grow. I would encourage agriculture ministers across Ireland to include organic farming in rural development plans,” said the local MEP.

Given that an organic farming scheme has already been announced as part of the RDP in the Republic of Ireland, it must be assumed that her comments are directed at the RDP in Northern Ireland.

In the draft programme sent to Brussels for approval, DARD opted not to include an organic farming scheme, citing poor uptake of relevant schemes under the last RDP, and limited market opportunities for organic produce. Its position was supported by the majority of stakeholders responding to the DARD consultation back in 2013 on the new RDP, with the Ulster Farmers’ Union comparing organic with free-range production, where the market should deliver a premium price.

However, lobbying since then by organic interest groups in NI, both here and in Brussels, seems to have been effective, with the European Commission suggesting to DARD this spring that it should reconsider its decision not to have an organic farming scheme.

Despite the scepticism of some officials, it is expected that DARD will come forward with a scheme. The statement from Martina Anderson could be a prelude to that.