Rams sold to a top price of €980 at Sheep Ireland’s multi-breed ram sale in Tullamore Mart on Saturday.
According to Sheep Ireland, the sale has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years and Saturday’s sale was the largest sale of multi-breed rams the organisation has held.
On the day, it says that farmers from 21 counties took home rams, making it a day in the calendar not to be missed by commercial breeders.
The sale featured 205 rams from various breeds including Belclare, Texel, Suffolk, Rouge, Vendeen and Charollais.
The clearance rate for rams on the day was 85%, while the average price paid across all breeds was €525, €13/head lower than the corresponding sale last year.
The sale featured 17 Belclare rams and demand for these rams was said to be high, with the breed posting a clearance of 94%.
Source: Sheep Ireland
Over 67 Texel rams were cataloged on the day, with 89% of the Texel tups on offer finding new homes and Anne Murphy’s Oberstown Tuff sired ram lamb topped the Texels at €880.
The average price for Texel rams on the day was €470, with the lowest price being €250.
Looking at the Suffolk rams, 90% of the Suffolk rams on offer sold and prices for these lots averaged €532/head.
Eamon Duffy sold the best priced Suffolk ram, as his Deburca sired ram lamb found a new home for €840.
Rouge de L’Ouest and Vendeen were the only breeds to post a 100% clearance rate, with the four Rouge rams on offer selling to an average price of €463/head.
Anne Murphy also produced the highest priced Rouge ram, as her ram lamb (FMI16009) made €600.
Anthony and Oisin Gannon’s son of Ballivor Norway topped the Vendeen prices at €620, while Vendeen rams made an average price of €487/head.
Charollais rams held the highest presence in the sale, with over 73 rams cataloged.
A Jim and Frampton Jeffery bred ram lamb took the top Charollais price at €920, while the average price paid for Charolais rams was €564/head.