A large crowd gathered in Milford Mart for the annual Milford Sheep Breeders Association sale last week. This sale is the only dedicated Milford sale in Ireland. With 118 ewe hoggets, 231 ewe lambs and 33 select males on offer, demand was extremely high for top-quality lots.
It was the first-place ram lamb from the pen of Sean Meenan that stole the show on the night, achieving a new breed record of €6,500. It found a new home with breeders Tony and Rachel Gallagher.
This outstanding ram lamb had also great success at the summer shows, claiming the overall Milford championship at the largest dedicated Milford Show in Ireland, held at the Fanad Sheep Show.
The second top price in the male section was the third prize-winning ram lamb from Tony Gallagher. This double five-star ram lamb went on to sell for €800 to Padraig Whyte.
The next top price in the male section was a sharp ram lamb from James McHugh, that sold for €630 to Eamonn Friel. There where a further five ram lambs that broke the €500 mark and, overall, the males had a strong clearance rate, with just six males remaining unsold.
Female demand also remained strong throughout the sale, with a new record also being achieved for a pen of six ewe hoggets from Vera McBride, that picked up the top spot as champion pen of ewe hoggets and sold for €560/head, to breeder Hugh Montgomery.
These six exceptional ewe hoggets were bred by Tony and Rachel Gallagher, and purchased at last year’s sale.
The next top price in the hogget ewe section was the first prize-winning pair of ewe hoggets from Tony and Rachel Gallagher, they sold for €420/head. Demand remained high for ewe hoggets, with an 89% clearance rate achieved and an average price of €258/head.
Topping the ewe lamb trade was a pair of ewe lambs from Sean Meenan, that sold for €280/head.
Top-priced pen of six ewe lambs came from Cathal Gallagher. After winning the champion pen of ewe lambs they went on to sell for €255/head to breeder Dwayne Sheils.
A total of eight bunches of ewe lambs achieved prices over €200/head. The ewe lamb trade remained very constant throughout the sale, with an overall clearance rate of 92% achieved for the ewe lambs.