The Sheep Ireland Elite €uro-Star Multi-Breed Ram Sale 2020 which will now be held in Kilkenny mart on August 22nd due to Covid-19 restriction in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Please read the following information carefully as it contains crucial information relating to the sale
There will be two sales rings in operation on the day.
- Sale Ring 1 (in this breed order) – Belclare, Lleyn, Border Leicester, Rouge, Ile de France, Vendeen & Charollais
- Sale Ring 2 (in this breed order) –Texel & Suffolk
- The sale will not be balloted, and breeders will sell all lots of the same breed consecutively.
- Where breeders have multiple breeds in both rings, we will make every effort to avoid clashes in sale times.
- Intake will be open from 6.30 am, each breeder has been designated a 15 minute time slot which will be emailed and text to them prior to the sale.
- Due to the earlier intake in 2020 and increased travel distance for some breeders due to the relocation of the sale to Kilkenny, we are offering the option for rams to be penned on Friday evening. If you are interested in penning your rams on Friday evening it is essential that they are booked in before 16:30 on Tuesday August 18th by calling Sheep Ireland on 023 882 0451
- Breeders must have sheep penned by 9 am on the morning of the sale
- Sale will commence at 11:30
Movement of Rams to and from Sale Ring
The onus is on you, the vendor, to present your rams at the sale ring as they appear in the catalogue. If you miss your allocated lot number, your rams will not be allowed enter the ring until the end of that respective breed. It is also the vendors responsibility to take rams back to their pens once they have gone through the ring.
Pen bedding
Based on feedback over the past number of years and in order to aid prospective purchasers in the inspection of ram’s pre-sale, saw dust will be used to bed down pens. The saw dust will be provided by the mart.
Ram Inspections
All rams will be inspected on arrival and ram inspections will be extremely thorough. Any ram with defects will be refused entry to the sale. The inspector’s decision is final. We would encourage vendors to inspect their rams very carefully prior to the sale to make sure they are 100% correct in every way. Due to Covid-19, this year vendors are to REMAIN in their vehicle until their ram is inspected. We ask this in respect of Sheep Ireland and Mart staff to the maintain social distancing.
Ram Intake
Once your rams have passed intake, please go to the mart office immediately to book your rams into the sale. This will ensure that there is no delay for prospective buyers getting a bidding number as the sale is about to begin. Please ensure that you have your paperwork complete before arriving at the sale. The dispatch docket must be filled out in full including the rams lot number and it must be signed on the back also. The white dispatch docket and pedigree cert should be stapled together accompanied by the pink docket for the mart office. Again, to maintain social distancing it is essential that vendors follow these instructions carefully, Sheep Ireland staff will be present to remind staff, vendors and buyers to respect these restrictions for the safety of all involved.
Closing date for subs & sale catalogue availability
Closing date for subs is Monday 17th August at 10am. Subs can only be made by calling the Sheep Ireland office on 023 882 0451. A provisional catalogue is now available online, so you should check the catalogue to make sure your entries are correct. Full catalogue and final lot numbers will be available on the website www.sheep.ie from Tuesday August 18th.
Sale Promotion
Currently, we are in the middle of a huge Advertising Campaign for the sale. If breeders wish to send us photos of their rams to be used in the promotion of the sale, they can do so by sending an email to [email protected] titled Ram Pic along with the rams ID or alternatively send a WhatsApp to 086 792 5679.
Covid 19 Restriction
Due to Covid-19 restrictions we would ask you to cooperate fully with Sheep Ireland and Mart staff to ensure the safety of staff, vendors, and buyers. Every person must wear a face mask and maintain social distancing in all areas of the mart. We would ask all vendors to leave the penning area at 9:30 to allow buyers to view the rams while maintaining social distancing. Each ring is limited to 50 people so we would ask vendors make these limited seats available to potential buyers by only entering the sales ring if intending to purchase a ram. Online bidding is available which will allow you to watch the sale from outside the sales ring. We would ask all vendors to download the Martbids app and instructions on how to register can be found on the Kilkenny mart website or by following this link: http://www.kilkennymart.ie/martbids. Due to the unforeseen costs associated with moving the sale to Kilkenny at short notice there will be an additional commission fee of 2% on each ram which is to be paid by the vendor.
Contact Sheep Ireland on 023 882 0451 or email [email protected] should you have any issues or queries with the above information.