Records were broken at the All-Star Texel in-lamb ewe sale on Saturday last at Blessington Mart, which saw a top price of €5,200 paid out for a twin-bearing ewe and an overall sale clearance rate of 90%.
Lot 61, bred by Anthony Donnelly, was bought by Brian Connelly, from Tuam in Co. Galway, for the record-smashing price – of €5,200.
This record-breaking in-lamb ewe is a daughter of Garngour Bladerunner and out of a Knock Ursus ewe. She was sold scanned carrying twins and is due to lamb in February. Donnelly also sold two more full sisters of this ewe for €3,000 and €1,600 respectively.
Also Read: Top price of €2,500 recorded at Belgian Beltex Breeders’ Society saleAnthony, who brought 11 in-lamb shearling ewes to the sale, averaged €1,960 – which was the highest average across the sale.
Top average flock prices across the sale:
- Anthony Donnelly: Sold 11 at an average of €1,960;
- Ryan Flock: Sold 14 at an average of €1,125;
- Padraic Niland: Sold 10 at an average of €830;
- Ann Murphy: Sold eight at an average of €800;
- Fergal O’Se: Sold three at an average of €685.
Other high prices were lot 12 (pictured below) which sold for €3,000 and was exhibited by Arthur and Patrick O’Keeffe. This ewe is a daughter of Garngour Alabama that sold scanned carrying twins.
Lot 54, exhibited by Flor Ryan, was a daughter of Foundry Achilles with top performance figures of 5-stars across the board and sold for €3,000 carrying twins.
Lot 12 sold by Arthur and Patrick O’Keeffe for €3,000
Back to Donnelly’s pen was lot 63 and another daughter of Garngour Bladerunner that sold carrying twins for €2,400. Lot 15 for Arthur and Patrick O’Keeffe who is a daughter of Forkins Anfield sold carrying twins for €2,200.
Top prices at last Saturday’s sale:
- €5,200 – to Brian Connelly;
- €3,000 – to Adam Heffernan;
- €3,000 – to Pascal Keogh;
- €3,000 – to Sean Moroney;
- €2,400 – to Gareth Murphy;
- €2,200 – to Charles Deane;
- €1,800 – to William Carey;
- €1,800 – to William Carey;
- €1,800 – to Thomas Kenny;
- €1,800 – to William Carey.
The overall sale average was €1,215 which saw 25 sheep making over €1,000. Online bidders were very busy on the day with bidding coming from as far as Belgium, Germany and all corners of Ireland. The home market remained the strongest, with all sheep bought staying in Ireland.
Flor Ryan, who sold stock at the sale, spoke to AgriLand about the influence online bidding had on the sale and also about the trade on the day. He said: “It was a flyer of a sale that saw new and established breeders searching for new bloodlines.
“There were some brilliant prices on the day and all credit to the breeders for having their respective stock in such fine condition.
It was the first time online bidding was available and it was extremely popular, with the top four prices at the sale coming from online bidders.
“We carried out a survey before the sale and it revealed that two-thirds of potential buyers would be tuning in online rather than standing ringside.
“It was an absolute pleasure to have the online service available as it opened up the sale to more potential buyers.
“Speaking to some of the buyers who were tuning in online, they believed that the sheep looked just as good from their phone as if they were standing on around the ring.”