Beltex Sheep Society beltex

  www.beltex.co.uk

beltex

Beltex Sheep Society

Shepherds View,
Barras,
Kirkby Stephen,
Cumbria CA17 4ES

telephone+44 (0)17683 41124
email info@beltex.co.uk
mailing listjoin our e-mailing list

Beltex ram smashes the breed record at 34,000gns

“ The perfect sheep” smashed records for the Beltex breed on Friday August 15th 2003 when a syndicate of pedigree breeders paid 34,000gns for a ram.


The two-shear Northern Irish-bred ram more than tripled last year’s breed record of 10,500gns at the Beltex Sheep Society Sale and it broke the centre record for a sheep sold at Borderway Mart, Carlisle. The breed record for ram lambs was also broken at the sale which met a high clearance at the 10-hour long sale.

Averages for aged rams, ram lambs and shearling gimmers were all up on the year.

Tullygarley Elite
Tullygarley Elite - 34,000gns.

Tullygarley Elite bred by JK Currie and Sons, of Whitesides Road, Ballymena, Co Antrim, had been much fancied at the pre-sale show on Thursday when he was selected the supreme champion by judge Robin Slade, of Inglewood Edge, Dalston, Carlisle.

Only sixth in the catalogue, bidding began on a high note and it was the syndicate of established pedigree breeders from Scotland, Wales and England who paid the record price. However, underbidder to 33,000gns was a single breeder, Gordon Belcher, of Shifnal Shropshire.

Sharing Tullygarley Elite are Lanarkshire breeders Alan Thom and Gavin Shanks who each run their own Beltex flocks alongside a jointly-owned flock, John McIlwraith, of Ayr and John Barclay, of Maybole, Ayrshire, Evan Evans, of Anglesey and Bob Roberts, of Pwllheli, north Wales and John Hall, of Inglewood Edge, Dalston.

They plan to each take 100 straws of semen from the ram this year for use in their respective flocks and other semen from Elite will be marketed – some was sold on the day of the sale.
“ The ram was the best we have seen and a lot of people were saying the same,” said Evan Evans, who recently put the breed on the map when he won the reserve interbreed title at the Anglesey Show. “We had made up our minds to buy the ram the night before.”
“ The ram is good on his legs, has great muscling and handles well. He has also been breeding well. A lot of people have said it is the best Beltex they have seen,” said Alan Thom.

The sale gave plenty to celebrate for breeder Mervyn Currie who is dispersing his Tullygarley flock established nine years ago.
“ I thought he was going to make a good price but I wasn’t expecting anything as high as this,” he said. “The only reason he is for sale is because I am dispersing the flock to concentrate on my other flock of sheep. ” Seven gimmers from the flock and two ram lambs were sold at Carlisle with the remaining 10 ewes being sold at Dungannon on September 6.

Elite, which was last year’s reserve interbreed champion at Ballymena Show on its only show outing, is by an imported tup bought in 1997. Mr Currie’s last sheep sold in Carlisle was a ram lamb which was also the champion under the same judge.

Friday’s sale was the best yet for the breed in the UK. “We had tremendous interest before the sale which has proved to be our best yet,” said Beltex Sheep Society secretary Helen Ashton. “The breed is on the up and up with increased registrations and membership of the society.”

Ians Good Buy
Ian McConnell, with Ians Good Buy, which made 3500gns, a record price for a Beltex Lamb.

The record for ram lambs for the second highest priced sheep on Friday was 3,500gns for Ian’s Good Buy from Ian McConnell, of Guillyburn, Kirkmahoe, Dumfries, the first lamb ram into the ring. The previous lamb ram record was 3,000gns at the Worcester sale last year. The purchasers were James and John Scott, of Fearn Farm, Tain, Ross-shire.

The average for 63 ram lambs was up by £269 on the 2002 sale for 31 sold.

The sale was also the first where the Beltex Sheep Society had catalogued the results of each sheep’s scrapie genotyping and the genotyping was reflected in the prices – Tullygarley Elite was in the top classification for scrapie resistance and other leading prices were also for high type rams including the leading ram lamb.

Helen Ashton said: “Scrapie genotyping is becoming very important but we are also conscious that we must not lose sight of the conformation of the sheep.”

Another ram lamb made the third leading price of 3,200gns which was shared by three rams. The lamb Drumrash Ginola, from Mrs J Cruickshank, of Drumrash Farm, Parton, Castle Douglas, which was reserve male champion at this year’s Royal Highland Show and again a top genotype ram from imported sheep.

Also at 3,200gns was another top genotype shearling ram, Coningswick bred by Ian McMillan, of Carse of Clary, Newton Stewart, Wigtownshire. A son of Headlind Dynamic which made the record ram lamb price in 2000, it sold to T Taylor, of Heathery Hall, Thankerton, Biggar, Lanarkshire.

John McIlwraith, a member of the syndicate which bought the top priced ram, had the third to sell at 3,200gns. Another shearling Beachy Full Throttle is by the top sire Am Yer Man.

Also topping 3,000gns was David Bishop, of Colwall, Worcestershire, with one of two shearling rams entered, Luggsmill Freddie, out of a home-bred ewe and an imported ram. A ram lamb sold by Mr Bishop made 2,000gns – a twin, Luggsmill Gaffer is by Luggsmill Envoy and out of a home-bred ewe.

Nick Frazier and his father John, of Coningswick Farm, Rock, near Kidderminster, sold the next top priced ram at 3,000gns, Coningswick Grumpy, again a top rated ram for scrapie genotyping.

Topping the females at 1,500gns was a daughter of the 34,000gns ram Tullygarley Elite from Mervyn Currie. Tullygarley Fame sold to young Beltex breeder Elizabeth McAllister, of Kells, Ballymena, for her Artnagullion flock.

Another daughter of Elite, Tulygarley Florida, fetched 1,300gns selling to DB Roberts, Kenley, near Shrewsbury.

Also selling at 1,300gns was another shearling gimmer from Gordon Connor and Scott Dalrymple, of Boness, West Lothian, Dun-Mor Felicity, bought by J Smithson, of Skelcies Hall, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.

Averages: 11 aged rams, £3,824.86 (2002 sale £1,367.43); 260 shearling rams, £ 638.40 (2002 £754.34); 63 ram lambs, £756.58 (2002 £487.06); 125 shearling gimmers, £450.32 (2002 £419.24).

Leading prices:

(Lot 6) JK Currie, 34,000gns to J McIlwraith & Son, Balig Farm, Doonfoot, Ayr; JY Barclay & Co, Mid Brockloch, Maybole; R Hall & Son, Inglewood Edge, Dalston, Carlisle; GB Shanks, Bowmanhurst, Brownlee Estate; R Lloyd Roberts, Glyncoed, Chwilog, Pwllheli, Gwynydd; Evan Evans, Castell-Eden, Gwalchmai, Anglesey.
(Lot 397) Ian McConnell, 3,500gns to J Scott & Partners, Fearn Farm, Fearn, Tain, Ross-shire.
(Lot 403) Mrs J Cruickshank, 3,200gns to D Baillie, Calla, Carnwath, Lanark.
(Lot 143) JL McMillan, 3,200gns to T Taylor, Heathery Hall, Thankerton, Biggar, Lanarkshire.
(Lot 262) J McIlwraith & Son, 3,200gns to D Haigh, Longley Lane, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
(Lot 287) D Bishop, 3,100gns to JA McGarva, Horseclose Farm, Cummertrees, Annan, Dumfriesshire.
(Lot 466) HS Frazier & Son, 3,000gns to BK Ryder, Newtown Farm, Annan Water, Moffat, Dumfriesshire.
(Lot 261) Neale and Janet McQuistin, 2,800gns to P Tippetts, Hackney Farm, East Huntspill, Highbridge, Somerset.
(Lot 123) Shanks and Thom, 2,800gns to P Neil, Fellnaw, Ringford, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire.
(Lot 465) HS Frazier & Son, 2,500gns to Neil McQuiston, High Airydland, New Luce; GC Burke, Easter Balado and Mrs M Dunlop, Corstane, Broughton, Biggar, Lanarkshire.
(Lot 213) GB Shanks, 2,400gns to S & GA Potter, Westside, Topcliffe, Thirsk, North Yorkshire.
(Lot 478) D Bishop, 2,000gns to TC Whiteford, Tercrosset Farm, West Hall, Brampton, Cumbria.
(Lot 186) JW Cowan, 1,800gns to F Harbinson, Rigsend Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry.
(Lot 474) JW Cowan, 1,800gns to Colin Barnes, Tullydonnel Road, Dungannon, Co Tyrone.
(Lot 206) W McCrabbe, 1,700gns RA Mackintosh, Tombreckachie Farm, Glenlivet, Banffshire.
(Lot 210) W McCrabbe, 1,700gns to M Bindloss & Son, Shap Abbey, Shap, Penrith, Cumbria.
(Lot 406) A Jackson, 1,600gns to WG Forsyth, High Bishopton, Whithorn, Wigtownshire.
(Lot 147) ER Maclean, 1,600gns to PG Slater, Whiteley Hay Farm, Butley, Cheshire.
(Lot 396) DB Roberts, 1,600gns to PE Dixon, Rakehead Farm, Nateby, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.
(Lot 111) J Scott & Partners, 1,600gns to RL Morris & Partners, Over Buttergask, Coupar, Angus, Perthshire.

Female leading prices:
(Lot 495) JK Currie & Sons, 1,500gns to Elizabeth McAllister, of Kells, Ballymena, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland.
(Lot 493) JK Currie & Sons, 1,300gns to DB Roberts, Kenley, near Shrewsbury.
(Lot 499) G Connor & S Dalrymple, 1,300gns to J Smithson, Skelcies Hall, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.