Dorset News:

Stirling Show & Sale 2019

The first dedicated sale of Dorset Sheep on Scottish soil was held at United Auctions, Stirling, on behalf of the Scottish Dorset Breeders’ Club on Wednesday 3rd July 2019.

The sale attracted vendors from both Northern Ireland and England as well as Scotland. 66 sheep in total were brought forward for sale, 19 male and 47 female.

The pre-sale show was kindly judged by Mr Sam Driver of the Sandy Lane flock who are current flock champions.

Andrew & Caroline Kennedy’s Maineview B992, Overall Champion & Champion Female

The Female Champion and Overall Champion was presented to a ewe lamb, brought over from Ballymena, Northern Ireland by Andrew and Caroline Kennedy. This September born ewe lamb, Maineview B0992 was sired by Ballytaggart Aftershock and was out of a Downkillybegs ewe. This exceptional ewe lamb went on to make a joint top sale price of 1000 gns and sold to Mr Richard Fitton of the Dynamite flock, Bolton, Lancashire.

New Estimated Breeding Values to help improve results

The value of investing in a ram with the right genetic merit for your system has been highlighted in results from the third year of the RamCompare project.

The project has identified that commercial producers can identify the most profitable rams for their production system by using Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs).

The latest results from the UK’s national progeny test now include new EBVs for traits like Days to Slaughter, Primal Yield and Tenderness.

RamCompare is a five year project that takes nominated Signet recorded rams from various Terminal Sire breeds and uses them on nine commercial farms in the UK. Three years in, the project has already tested 138 rams and over 12,000 of their progeny, one of the largest trials of its kind.