We have put a wee report on our FB page at
https://www.facebook.com/ArdochHebrideanSheep/posts/966166650175649obviously its pretty Heb biased albeit from what shetland breeders told me we did slightly better than them. Feel free to comment on the FB page as obviously all want it better next year - at present the main thing folk are saying is that because it was a friday many folk couldn't come ( glad to say back to a Saturday next year) - for those without FB i have cut and pasted our post - below
HEBRIDEAN PRICES CRASH DUE TO BREXIT ! ;0) or was it because the sale was a Friday or some other reason - please comment so we can improve next year. We have left this over night to ponder what in general was a painfully brutal sale which was etched on the faces of vendors who had travelled many miles making extraordinary efforts to watch two years work getting half the price they made last year. Now for the headlines ( please bear i mind these are our scribbles in the catalogue and not official figure) tups AVG £60.45 down £46 from 2015, Ewes and gimmers avg £48.3 down £54 from 2015, tup lambs £35 down £6 and ewe lambs £54 down £9. There was the usual mix of quality with some really nice female sheep to £150 and top males just about the £200 plus mark however for what ever reason there was a dearth of buyers with again 2 many males and a distinct lack if buzz round the ring. I think next year this will be addressed by the male quota system but the society hopefully will confirm this soon so that all breeders know what they are targeting . There were a few new faces around the ring congratulations on your purchases hope you join the society and hopefully your new purchases go well - I think you maybe bought at the right time ;0)
So back to the day the Hebridean folk are fantastic they make so much effort to get there and the camaraderie is great, 23 made the evening meal the night before and the chat was top notch. The breed it's self has so much to offer especially with the good work being carried out by the society and individuals especially in terms of outlets for meat sales with demand outstripping supply. There has also been some good publicity in terms of both national and local publications. The society website upgrade is very good and imformative also. On a personal level we have had a few private sales this year probably more than we have had previously, so why the dip - on speaking to Shetland breeders they were of the opinion that the Hebridean ring had more folk round the ring and prices were better albeit the ring was pretty empty compared to last year and also we were pretty much second fiddle behind the Shetland's being behind them in the show ring and the sales ring and I think ideally having both going at the same time would improve the buzz and the ring could be split or we have our show the night before as previously and then bang into the ring the next morning
It will be Saturday next year so hopefully no one will be put off by this year as it's important to remember that we all love selling things for high prices in the ring but with that we also risk the lows also - that's the joys of the Market!
On a personal basis female prices weren't terrible, the two shearling tups we had were very disappointing but we let them go with the hope that they went to breeders who would use them, there was very little demand for tup lambs so we took our tup lamb home as we had higher hopes. The reality is that if he lives up to his promise he will be at the RHS next year and if he doesn't then he still might make the show except in pie form but either way he will be of more value so he will be given a chance. He was 4th in the tup lamb show with our ewe lambs being 5th and 6th. Good luck to anyone who purchased our stock and hope you do well with them. Please comment on this thread if you were there as a first timer or an established visitor. Finally congrats to Kath and Chas and Vicky for their male and female champions - onwards and upwards!
PS we still have a few 2 horn tup lambs and 2 and 4 horn ewe lambs available :0) this year
As per the start please feel free to post on the FB page - any thoughts welcome
Topic: RB sale Lanark 2nd September - who's going? (Read 6623 times)
