Sheep Ireland’s 14th Annual Multi-Breed Ram sale occurred on Saturday, August 24, in Tullamore Mart in Co. Offaly.
The sale had an overall clearance of 90%, with an average price of a ram being €853.
In 2022, the average price was €664, and last year in 2023, that saw the average price reach €795.
In just two years, average ram prices at the sale have risen by €189/head.
Prices at the sale this year ranged from €300 to €2,550, with rams available for both commercial and pedigree breeders.
There was a total of 464 rams through the ring at the sale, from 11 different breeds.
Every ram available at the sale passed a thorough physical inspection (3% of rams were rejected on the morning of the sale based on physical inspections).
This year, performance-recorded rams are in extra demand due to the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) genotyped ram task.
Breed Average price (€) Lowest price (€) Top price (€) No. through the ring Clearance rate Belclare €603 €400 €900 38 82% Blue Texel €563 €500 €600 5 80% Bluefaced Leicester €1,150 €1,150 €1,150 1 100% Charollais €808 €400 €1,550 144 88% Cheviot €500 €500 €500 1 100% Hampshire Down €428 €300 €850 12 75% Rouge de l’Ouest €800 €500 €1,400 7 100% Suffolk €1,093 €650 €2,550 60 100% Texel €930 €400 €2,300 161 95% Vendeen €567 €400 €1,050 33 72% Zwartbles €350 €350 €350 1 100% Overall €853 €300 €2,550 464 90%
With a clearance of 95%, the Texel breed had the largest number of entries on the day with 161 rams through the ring.
The average price of the Texels was €930, with a range of rams available from €400 to €2,300. The top priced ram of the day was bred by Robert John Dunne, lot 248, again sold to a fellow pedigree breeder.
There were 144 Charollais rams through the ring with a clearance rate of 88%. Charollais were again this year the second largest breed available at the sale.
The Suffolk breed was the third largest breed available on the day with 60 rams going through the ring.
The average price on the day was €1,093 with a 100% clearance for the breed. The top priced rams of the sale were from breeder Eamonn Duffy who had two lots reach a price of €2,550 for lots 447 and 448.
Both rams were sold to pedigree breeders. The price ranged from €650-€1,900 for Suffolks excluding the two top priced lots.
With a total of 38 rams available at the sale, the Belclares had the highest replacement €urostar values of the breeds within the sale.
The breed had a clearance rate of 82%, a figure that was up on last years 70%. The Belclares averaged €603, with rams ranging from €400-€900. Breeder John McTigue’s ram was the top priced Belclare on the day at €900.
The average sale price was €808, with Charollais rams ranging from €400-€1550. David Argue, received the top honor’s for the third year in a row, with the top price, lot 70 reaching €1,550.
A first for the sale was the addition of the Zwartbles breed to the catalogue for the 2024 sale, with a ram from breeder Deirdre Heavy sold on the day.
This ram was ranked in the top 5% replacement and top 13% terminal index of the Zwartbles breed. This is the first of the breed to be sold within the sale at €350.
Another first for the sale was the inclusion of the Cheviot breed in this year’s catalogue. Breeders John and Donie Foley sold a hogget ram at €500. The ram was ranked in the top 13% for the terminal index of the Cheviot breed.