Sheep Ireland has released sale entry criteria for its 2025 Elite €uroStar Multi-Breed Ram Sale, taking place in Kilkenny Mart, Cillín Hill Business Park, Kilkenny, on Saturday 23 August 2025.
The sale, supported by FBD Insurance, Cormac Tagging and Wetherby’s Scientific, is open to elite rams from flocks participating in the LambPlus programme that satisfy entry requirements.
To be eligible for entry, Sheep Ireland lists the following criteria for rams:
1. €uroStar index – five stars for either the replacement or terminal index at the time of catalogue printing. These can be checked using your Sheep Ireland online €uroStar report for the most up-to-date genetic evaluation results.
2. Genotyped with genomic evaluation – genotyped through Sheep Ireland and in time for the last genomic evaluation at the time of catalogue printing.
3. Fully parentage verified – sire and dam verified through DNA. Meaning, the sire and dam of every ram entered must also be genotyped with Sheep Ireland. If a sire or dam mismatches and is removed, the animal must have a new sire or dam assigned via genomic parentage predictions to be eligible for the sale.
4. Scrapie type – 1, 2, or 3. This information is available in a breeder’s genomic results screen in the Sheep Ireland portal.
5. Ram inspection – physically correct when presented at intake. A thorough inspection on all rams entered to the sale will be carried out upon entry. Any sheep which, in the inspector’s opinion, are not physically correct will be rejected immediately.
Flock requirements
The entry criteria for LambPlus flocks is as follows:
Data quality index (DQI) – possess a flock DQI of 85% or higher at the time of catalogue printing. A breeder’s DQI score can be viewed on their online account at sheep.ie and it can be updated manually by clicking 'Recalculate'.Flock linkage status – genetically linked in 2025. Check your flock linkage status by visiting your €uroStar profile through your online account. Flock linkage will be updated after all the 2025 lambing data has been submitted to the database and is generally available in mid-May.Friday arrival
Sheep Ireland also outlines a new element to the sale in 2025, with rams required to arrive in the mart on Friday evening between 5pm and 8pm. The organisation states that this is to facilitate an earlier start to the sale on Saturday.
There will also be a pre-entry system in operation in 2025 which will close on Friday 27 June. Further details of this system will be released in early June, with only breeders who have pre-entered gaining entry, while the deadline for final entries is Tuesday 5 August 2025.
Sheep Ireland has released sale entry criteria for its 2025 Elite €uroStar Multi-Breed Ram Sale, taking place in Kilkenny Mart, Cillín Hill Business Park, Kilkenny, on Saturday 23 August 2025.
The sale, supported by FBD Insurance, Cormac Tagging and Wetherby’s Scientific, is open to elite rams from flocks participating in the LambPlus programme that satisfy entry requirements.
To be eligible for entry, Sheep Ireland lists the following criteria for rams:
1. €uroStar index – five stars for either the replacement or terminal index at the time of catalogue printing. These can be checked using your Sheep Ireland online €uroStar report for the most up-to-date genetic evaluation results.
2. Genotyped with genomic evaluation – genotyped through Sheep Ireland and in time for the last genomic evaluation at the time of catalogue printing.
3. Fully parentage verified – sire and dam verified through DNA. Meaning, the sire and dam of every ram entered must also be genotyped with Sheep Ireland. If a sire or dam mismatches and is removed, the animal must have a new sire or dam assigned via genomic parentage predictions to be eligible for the sale.
4. Scrapie type – 1, 2, or 3. This information is available in a breeder’s genomic results screen in the Sheep Ireland portal.
5. Ram inspection – physically correct when presented at intake. A thorough inspection on all rams entered to the sale will be carried out upon entry. Any sheep which, in the inspector’s opinion, are not physically correct will be rejected immediately.
Flock requirements
The entry criteria for LambPlus flocks is as follows:
Data quality index (DQI) – possess a flock DQI of 85% or higher at the time of catalogue printing. A breeder’s DQI score can be viewed on their online account at sheep.ie and it can be updated manually by clicking 'Recalculate'.Flock linkage status – genetically linked in 2025. Check your flock linkage status by visiting your €uroStar profile through your online account. Flock linkage will be updated after all the 2025 lambing data has been submitted to the database and is generally available in mid-May.Friday arrival
Sheep Ireland also outlines a new element to the sale in 2025, with rams required to arrive in the mart on Friday evening between 5pm and 8pm. The organisation states that this is to facilitate an earlier start to the sale on Saturday.
There will also be a pre-entry system in operation in 2025 which will close on Friday 27 June. Further details of this system will be released in early June, with only breeders who have pre-entered gaining entry, while the deadline for final entries is Tuesday 5 August 2025.
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