One of Ireland’s newest sheep society’s, the Munster Lanark Sheep Breeders Group, is holding a sale of breeding sheep in Mid-Kerry Co-Operative Mart in Milltown, Co Kerry on Thursday 13 October.
The group were present for the first time in the sheep pavilion at the recent National Ploughing Championships and group member Grant Rogerson explained the background to the group’s formation.
He said that there was an increase in the number of hill sheep farmers running the Lanark strain of the Blackface breed of sheep in Munster and that hosting a sale allows members to take advantage of the marketing benefits of offering higher numbers in one location, while also providing breeders with an opportunity to source new genetics to improve breeding within their flock.
He said: “There is numerous strains of the Blackface breed on the island of Ireland and there is plenty of room for farmers to run their preferred type of sheep.
"There is huge scope for all breeds to better showcase the breeding potential of hill sheep. These sheep play a vital role in grazing upland areas but they also offer so much potential in producing top-quality replacements for use in lowland flocks.
"There is not many breeds of sheep that are not suitable for crossing with Lanark’s to produce replacements that excel in terms of their maternal traits, while also producing sheep with excellent terminal traits and capable of delivering heavier carcases.
“We see how well these crosses are working in Scotland, England and Wales and there is scope for for Irish farmers to capitalise on this potential”.
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