A flock of over 400 ewes is set to be dispersed at Delvin Mart, Co. Westmeath, as the flock owner has decided to disband his sheep farming enterprise.
Speaking to Agriland, flock owner John Fagan from Gartlandstown, Co. Westmeath, explained why he has decided to completely disperse his sheep flock.
Fagan is well-known to sheep farmers across the country and is a previous Nuffield scholar, an Irish Grassland Association (IGA) member and as well as writing a weekly column on sheep farming, he previously hosted a television show live from his lambing shed.
The flock owner said that he has been “phasing out” his flock over the past number of years and added: “Between one thing and another, I just want a bit of a change”.
He said: “I have been farming sheep all of my life. When I took over the farm 20 years ago, I was more into it then and we went up to 1,400 ewes at one stage.
A sample of the ewes in the flock:
“I’m getting out [of sheep farming] for the moment. I just want a bit of a break from them for a couple of years and that’s it.”
While his reasons for dispersing the flock are personal, it is a bitter-sweet time for him.
He said: “I don’t want to be bitter about sheep farming. The prices never have been as good, it’s just like anything, I want a bit of a change of what I’m at. I’ll still be farming, just doing things a bit differently.”
Fagan has plans to expand his tillage enterprise and will still be keeping dry stock. He is also considering forestry on some of his more marginal land. As well as this, John plans to grow feed to supply a dairy farmer.
Commenting on his past few years as a sheep farmer, he said:
“It’s been challenging for sheep farmers over the last couple of years. This year has been a good year for prices but at the same time, it’s very difficult to get help, the costs of production fluctuate a lot and it is very demanding on time [sheep farming].
He remains optimistic for the sector saying: “There’s plenty of money to be made in it, I’ve had 25 good years farming sheep and just want a break.”
The sale of the flock
The flock of over 400 ewes will be dispersed at Delvin Mart on Thursday, August 15, and Thursday, August 22 during the normal sheep sale at the mart venue which kicks off at 11:00a.m.
The ewes are ranging in age from two to five years old. John said: “To the best of my knowledge, everything in the sale is perfect for breeding. I’m going through the ewes and anything not correct is not going to the sale.
“There should be no difference between the two sales. We just couldn’t bring them all up the one day because the logistics of it.
He said: “We are going to pen the four and five-year olds together and were going to pen the two and three-year olds together.
“The older sheep are Mayo Mules and the younger ones would generally be Belclare, Suffolk and Easycare-cross Mules.”
The mid-season lambing flock had a scanning rate of over 2.0 lambs/ewe last year and according to John “all of these sheep have been vaccinated against enzootic abortion and are up to date on their Footvax and their Heptovac-P programme”.
Fagan added: “I hope they get to good homes” and encouraged farmers “looking for good-quality breeding ewes” to attend the sale.