Tullamore mart was the venue for the 5th annual Sheep Ireland Multibreed ram sale which was held on August 22nd. The Sale is now starting to establish itself as the ideal setting to acquire any new breeding rams for the years ahead. With the number of STAP farmers needing to complete Task one (Ram Task) this year greatly reduced from the previous two years it could have been expected that demand for recorded rams may be in question, however this was one of the most successful sales to date with a large number of body’s around the ring. On the day 151 rams went through the ring with a clearance rate of 87%.

Suffolks were the first breed through the ring, and with only one unsold lot. The top priced Suffolk on the day was a John & Ester Gahan ram (Lot 13; SKW1500421) who was sired by Rookery Classic making €880 at the drop of the hammer. The average Suffolk made €547 on the day, with the lowest price being €360.

Vendeen were second through the ring, and again only had one unsold lot. The top bid for a Vendeen ram was €680 for an Ena Nagle ram (Lot 43; NEL15014) who was sired by Cottage Jasper. The average Vendeen price on the day was €472, with the lowest price being €400.

Rouge de L’Ouest were next, and again only had one unsold lot. The average price paid for Rouge was €388 with a top price of €510 for Lot 52 (ASI15030) bred by Alister Swift. The lowest price for a rouge on the day was €300.

Charollais had the largest presence at the sale with 49 Charollais finding a new home. The average price paid for Charollais on the day was €533 with the top priced ram sired by Logie Durno Lone Ranger coming from Albert Fergusons flock for Lot 116 (A7815033) which made €870. The lowest price for a Charollais on the day was €400.

The Belclares had a full clearence on the day with a ram of Larry Barretts topping the Belcare price list with lot 121 (LB151730) which was sold for €840. This ram also had the highest accuracy in the sale for a ram lamb with a 51% accuracy on the Terminal index. The average Belclare price was €463 with the lowest price being €300.

The Texels were the final breed to be offered before the conclusion of the sale. The average price for Texels on the day was €578, with the Texels also capturing the highest with one of Liam Dillions rams (Lot 139; LDE15038) bred of the famous Oberstown Usain Bolt  commanding a price tag of €940. The Lowest price for a Texel ram was €300.

While there were some very good prices made on the day across all the breeds there was rams there to suit all commercial buyers. From all the purchasers that bought rams at the sale only 30% of them has chosen Task one of STAP in 2015 which is hugely positive, showing that the farmers that are looking for rams with top stars has spread well beyond the reach of STAP.

We would also like to thank all the staff at Tullamore mart for all their assistance and co-operation, all the breeders who brought rams to the sale and helped out in any way on the day and finally to all the purchasers who attended the sale, with out all of these people the sale would not be possible.

Get the Sales catalogue here