Since its formation, the Sheep Ireland €uroStar Multi-Breed Ram Sale has grown from strength to strength and it’s now the largest one-day, catalogued ram sale in Ireland.
This year’s sale, scheduled to take place in Tullamore Mart on Saturday, August 25, boasts an impressive provisional entry of 330 rams.
The rams entered for the sale include: 106 Charollais; 100 Texel; 59 Suffolk; 43 Belclare; 13 Vendeen; seven Rouge de l’Ouest; four Hampshire Down; two Beltex; and two Lleyn.
Given the shear size of the sale, two sale rings will be in operation on the day. Belclare, Vendeen, Hampshire Down, Rouge de l’Ouest and Charollais tups will be sold in ring one; Texel, Beltex, Lleyn and Suffolk will be sold in ring two. Both rings are set to commence at 12:00pm.
Sheep Ireland holds one multi-breed ram sale every year in order to help promote €uroStar rams and to give farmers an opportunity to source some of the top sheep genetics in the country.
The sale is an extremely important event in terms of promoting and growing the level of performance recording in Ireland, which will ultimately be a good thing for the entire sheep industry.
All rams will be 5-star on the terminal or replacement index and a minimum accuracy of 35% is required. The breeders’ Data Quality Index (DQI) also needs to be at least 65%.
In addition, the flock from which the rams are consigned needs to have carried out ultrasound scanning in 2017 and it must be genetically linked within the relevant breed.
A thorough physical inspection will also be carried out on all rams entering the sale and Sheep Ireland is hopeful that this high criteria will make the sale attractive for purchasers. Click here for a provisional sale catalogue