Suffolks hit a record high of 42,000gns in Ballymena

Ballymena Livestock Market was a place of magic last Saturday when it hosted the Northern Ireland Premier Suffolk sale, where sale averages where outdone and the NI Suffolk sale record went up in smoke.

The atmosphere in both the show and sales ring was electric, with one of the best consignments of Suffolks ever seen in Ballymena Livestock Market.

This super quality reflected on the prices with an overall average sale price of £3,109 (€3,585) being achieved.

The clearance rate throughout the sale was also extremely strong, with sheep being picked up by buyers throughout Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe.

Record

The pre-sale show was judged by Alastair Barkley of the well-known Blackbrae flock. Barkley’s pick came from Brian Dickson’s Islandmoyle flock.

This stand-out ram lamb was sired by the highly admired Birness The Gladiator and a homebred ewe that goes back to Crewlands Quickfire. Later in the day this sale champion hit the sales ring, where he sold for a new NI Suffolk sale record of 42,000gns (€50,839).

The record-breaking lamb was sold in a two-way split to Dennis Taylor of the Ballynacannon flock and the Williams Suffolk flock.

The next-highest price of 24,000gns (€29,051) was obtained by the lead lamb in the Limestone pen, of well-known breeder Mark Priestley.

This powerful lamb was a son of Benedyglen Masterpiece and his dam was the highly admired Suzi Babes the 2023 Balmoral Show shortwool interbreed champion. It was a consignment of breeders made up of Brian Dickson, Patrick Grant, John Grant, Canice Quinn and Glen Caldwell that bought the leading Limestone lamb.

Success didn’t stop here for the Limestone flock, they also picked up overall reserve champion with another quality ram lamb sired by the 75,000gns Cairnton Chaos. This prizewinning lamb was a maternal brother to the 6,800gns Limestone Bugatti and caught the eye of breeder Paul Delves leading him to place the winning bid of 11,000gns (€13,317).

Priestley went on to sell a second Chaos-sired ram lamb for 11,000gns to Southern breeders Andrew Wilson and Arthur O’Keeffe. This breedy lamb is also a maternal brother to the 48,000gns Limestone Marksman and the current UK sire of the year Limestone Online. The six Limestone ram lambs sold to achieve an impressive pen average of £10,238 (€11,804).

Hitting the day’s third-highest price of 20,000gns (€24,215) was Castleisle Dylan Thomas from the pen of Donegal-based breeder Andrew Wilson.

This classy lamb was sired by the £200,000 Salopian Solid Gold, the current breed record holder. His dam line was equally as strong, being out of a Limestone Aston Martin ewe and a maternal brother to sisters that have sold to highs of £8,000. It was Mark Priestley of the Limestone flock that picked up this genetic dream.

The second lamb to sell for 20,000gns was from the Tullywinney flock of Patrick McVerry.

This long, silky-haired modern-type lamb was sired by Ringsend Ringo and a homebred Tullywinney dam. This flashy lamb was sold in a two-way spilt to James Alexander and Jack Smyth.

Also on the day there were three quality lambs that sold for 15,000gns (€18,161). The first was from the Bessiebell flock of Jack Smyth. This strong modern-type lamb was sired by Fosters Six Pack and his dam was the 10,500 Bessiebell that sold at the 2024 Bonanza sale.

The second was the sole entry from James McCullough’s Claragh flock. This bright-eyed Kells T-Rex son was picked up by Lesley Liggett of the Carony flock.

Last, but by no means least, selling for 15,000gns was Alastair Gault’s leading lamb. This big-bodied lamb was sired by Annakisha Bright Eye and was picked up with a winning bid from Irish breeders Philip Lynch and the O’Keeffe family.

Achieving the highest pen average of £12,600 (€14,527) on the day was John Trimble of the Cherrylea flock. John sold both of his Ballynacannon Coldplay sons for 12,000gns each, the first to JC Innes and Sons and the second to Alistair Breen.

The final lamb to hit the five-figure sum of 10,500gns (€12,712) on the day was Craigdoo Camicazi from Patrick Grant. Camicazi was sired by the 10,000gns Limestone Rizzler and he also stood third at the National Championships earlier in the year. He was snapped up with a last-minute bid from Michael and Caolan McNally of the Benedy Glen flock.