The host farm for the 2026 Irish Grassland Association (IGA) sheep event is Mountbellew Agricultural College.

The farm walk supported by Mullinahone Co-op takes place at the Atlantic Technical University (ATU) College on Thursday 27 August at 6pm. The 122ha farm is home to dairy, suckler, dairy calf-to-beef and sheep enterprises.

The sheep enterprise is run in a mixed grazing system with the 30-cow suckler herd and dairy-beef enterprise. It consists of approximately 155 mainly Suffolk and Belclare-cross ewes and 45 ewe hoggets which are retained for breeding each year.

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The breeding programme sets the foundation for high prolificacy along with high levels of technical efficiency.

Suffolk and Belclare genetics are used in a criss-cross breeding programme in mature ewes with Suffolk rams joined with Belclare-cross ewes and Belclare rams joined with Suffolk-cross ewes. Hoggets are mated to Charollais rams for ease of lambing.

There is an early lambing flock of 50 ewes synchronised to lamb in mid-February for the purpose of practical skills training for students. These ewes which are bred for one cycle typically scan at 2.1 lambs per ewe joined.

Any ewes not in lamb are joined with the mid-season flock which in recent years has averaged in the region of 2.45 lambs per ewe joined to the ram. As can be expected there is a high number of triplet litters.

Lambs born to ewes not capable of rearing triplets are reared artificially while there is a batch of ewes which rear triplets.

Ewes are generally housed around 20 December.

The flock carries out performance recording using the Sheep Ireland LambPlus system for commercial flocks.

Performance records collected at lambing include lamb birthweights and ewe mothering ability, milk yield etc. Lambs are also weighed throughout the season and detailed records on animal and flock performance will be discussed at the event with farm manager Ronan Grealis and enterprise lecturer Barry Boner.