A NEW Northern Ireland record price for a Blackface ram was achieved at Ulster Ram Breeders Association’s sale at Ballymena on Monday, when a lamb from John and Patrick Harkin sold for 40,000gns.
Add in a further nine five-figure prices in the south-type section and four sales of 10,000gns or more among the North-type Blackface rams and it was a cracking sale.
Fuelling that was the usual large contingent of Scottish breeders looking for new genetics, and bluetongue in the east of England and Wales, and the ban on live exports, which means Irish breeders are unable to buy stock rams on the mainland.
Like all good Blackie sales, trade improved as the day went on too with the biggest prices achieved in the last two hours of the sale.
It was the pen leader from John and Patrick Harkin’s Loughash flock from Donemana that set the new record when selling to Damien McSwiggan, who earlier topped the south-type shearling rams at 11,000gns.
The father and son duo sold sons by the same sire for 25,000gns, which coupled with other sales at 12,000gns and 9000gns produced the top average of £13,191 for eight.
Their 25,000gns lamb, which stood first at the National Show, is bred from a ewe by a £100,000 Loughash, and was knocked down to Veronica and Patrick Fullerton and Sean and Cahir McGilligan.
Ciaran and Michael McEldowney purchased the 9000gns Loughash, another son of the £15,000 Elmscleugh bred from a ewe by a £24,000 Dalchirla.
Second top price was 38,000gns paid for the No 2 lamb from Veronica and Patrick Fullerton, Draperstown. Their son of an £82,000 Loughash lamb, part bought at Lanark and bred from a Loughash ewe bought at an in-lamb sale at Lanark, was knocked down to Kieran and Liam Donaghy.
The couple’s first lamb also boasts Loughash genetics on both sides being a son of a £10,000 Harkin-bred lamb bought at Lanark in 2023, out of a ewe by a £20,000 Loughash. The buyer was Omagh breeder, M McDermott, Crockaboy Road. The Fullertons sold five lambs to average £13,377.
Colm McAteer’s Drumboy flock from Drumore, Co Down, also had a good day with sales at £15,000, £12,000 and £6000 for sons of a £12,000 Lurgan lamb bought last year at Dalmally, of which two sold to Scottish breeders. Dearest was the No 2, bred from a ewe by a £160,000 Elmscleugh, which sold to Davie and Jock Jackson, Pole, Lochgoilhead, while the pen leader, out of a ewe by Crossflatt’s McCoy Look A Like, was bought by Chris Toner, Castlewellan, Co Down. Iain and David McArthur, Arnicle, Glenbarr, bought the £6000 Drumboy lamb.
There was more big money to come when the Grant brothers – Mike, John and Patrick – of the Craigdoo flock sold lambs at 10,000gns and 8000gns to G and I Davidson, Raloo, Larne, and Gerard Goss, Co Laos, respectively.
Both are sons of a £10,000 Auldhouseburn lamb bought at Dalmally, with the dearest being out of an Elmscleugh-bred ewe by a £160,000 Dalchirla.
MORE NEWS | Bluefaced Leicesters ram lamb sets centre record at J36
MORE NEWS | Hewgill Bluefaced Leicesters top Penrith Sale
Demand for north-type lambs was equally buoyant with Thomsons animal nutritionist Thomas Harkin, Donemana, leading the charge with a 28,000gns sale to Billy Grant, Cloughfin and Charlie Gallagher.
The embryo-born lamb that was unshown at the pre-sale show is sired by a 3000gns Cloughfin lamb of which a share was bought last year and out of a ewe by a 4500gns Harkin.
Almost financing that transaction, Billy Grant and sons Joseph and Seamus, Cloughfin sold the reserve champion for 11,000gns to Gerard Breslin, Cronkeeran. A member of the second prize group, he is by a home-bred son of a £4000 Woolfords and out of a ewe by a home-bred son of a 400gns Harkin.
Scottish judge Duncan Beaton was most impressed by the top end of lambs forward and found his supreme in Paul McEvoy’s pen leader, a son of £5000 Scarhill tup purchased at Stirling last year from Steven and Sandy Smith in partnership with Kevin McAleer. The dam is by a £4000 Woolfords. Producing a second championship and a personal best for the 300-strong Cairnhill ewe flock, he was chapped down to Tom Adams, Rathkenny, Ballymena.
Top price for Charlie and Cathal Harkin’s north-type flock was 11,000gns paid for a lamb by a home-bred son of a 3800gns Cloughfin, bred from a ewe by a £6000 Woolfords. He sold in a three-way split to Eamon Conway, Kevin McAleer and Fergus Mullan.
North-type shearling rams reached 6500gns for the second prize winner from Mark and Russell Smyth’s Cam flock from Coleraine, purchased by the Watsons – Gavin and Williard, Mayfair and Gary and Ian Watson, Coleraine. He is sired by a £1000 Woolfords.
The champion north-type shearling and reserve overall from Sandy and James Carson’s 240-strong ewe flock made 5500gns. Sired by a ram bought for from Brian Curran and out of a ewe by a £5500 Calla, he stood second in his class at Limavady and sold to Mark and Russell Smyth.
Alan and Hugh Blackwood, Auldhouseburn, forked out 11,000gns to buy the lead priced south-type shearling at £11,000 from Damien McSwiggan, Gortin. He is by a £28,000 Auldhouseburn.
Next best at 8000gns was a ram bred by John McAllister but consigned by John McCalmont, Deerpark Farms, Glenarm, who bought the tup as a lamb here last year.
He is sired by a £10,000 Upper Wellwood, out of a ewe by a £15,000 Gass, and sold jointly to Stuart McIlwaine, Graham Wallace and Andy Adams.
Auctioneers: Ballymena Livestock Mart.
Averages: North-type – 54 shearling rams, £963.08 (+£341.48 for four more sold); 100 ram lambs, £1709.61 (+£255.07 for 11 more). South-type – 262 shearling rams, £1160.77 (+£69.14 for 18 more); 102 ram lambs, £3694. 04 (+£2509.82 for 10 more).
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here