In this article on www.thatsfarming.com, we take a look at some of our main headlines this week.
Stories include:
- Donegal breeder’s €6,700 Dutch Spotted ram lamb;
- Twin donkeys;
- Highlands visit Sligo;
- Ag show coverage;
- Connell family’s win with an Angus bought last year.
Connell family clinch Supreme All-Ireland champion title at finals
It was a day of dreams for the Connell family of Oldcastle, Co. Meath, on Sunday, with their remarkable debut exhibition at the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association finals on Monday.
They secured the title of intermediate and supreme champion with their sole exhibit at the event, which took place at The Showgrounds in Carrick-on-Shannon and was judged by Matt Stoker of the Easton Greys herd in England.
Taking the accolade was their January-2022-born heifer, Bellingham V Trish 3, a stylish daughter of popular AI sire, Intelagri Matteo with the dam a daughter of the renowned Bohey Jasper.
The Connells acquired the then 4-month-old heifer with her dam, as a pair, at the full clearance sale of the Bellingham herd, owned by Frances McKiernan, Dundalk, Co Louth, which took place at Carnaross Mart on Saturday, May 28th, 2022.
Read more on this news article.
Ag shows coverage
As part of our summer show coverage 2023, we visited Claremorris Agricultural Show and Bonniconlon Agricultural show over the weekend.
You can view coverage from Claremorris via this link and Bonniconlon via this link – stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram for more coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
€6,700 Dutch Spotted ram lamb
An ET January-2023-born Dutch Spotted ram lamb has set a new Irish breed record after selling for €6,700 at the breed association’s annual sale at The Showgrounds in Carrick-on-Shannon.
Dwayne Shiels, Co. Donegal bred lot 38, Woodtown Gangnam Style, the son of Woodview Eva, herself a Challoch Bearskin (has bred females to £11,000) daughter, and Craigdoo Fabio ET, by the famed Carlaustan Extrovert, the 2022 Balmoral champion, who has bred lambs to £28,000 and 2022 Balmoral champion, Kilroot Electric.
Woodview Eva is a consistent flushing female and is out of the same ewe that bred the overall champion at the Irish Dutch Spotted Association’s premier sale in 2021.
On Saturday, August 5th, he stood first in his class of 37 ram lambs, before clinching the male champion title and the sale’s reserve overall champion silverware.
Read more on this news article.
Twin donkeys
Marley and Magic were among the stars of the 36th Tubbercurry Old Fair Day Festival in Co Sligo on Wednesday, August 9th, 2023.
The rare twin donkeys were born on the farm of Brian Finneran in Co Sligo on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022, to their dam, Monty (now 18 years of age), and sire, Major.
According to reports, the birth of twin donkeys only occurs in 1.5% of donkey births with a survival rate of a mere 10%.
He explained, in a previous interview on Ocean FM:
“On Tuesday, July 12th, 2022, at 7:30 am, the two foals were born. The first foal was coming okay, and a friend and work colleague was with me.”
“He has more experience with horses and that, than me, we handled her and saw there was a second foal coming, so we rang for advice and were told to pull the foal.”
“So, we did that, and landed the second one on the ground,” he told listeners of Ocean FM.
Read more on this news article.
Highlands visit Sligo
Michelle Shaughnessy, who is arguably the country’s best-known Highland cattle breeder, stole the limelight with her Hamish, and Henry at the 36th Tubbercurry Old Fair Day Festival on Wednesday, August 9th, 2023.
The Granard, Co. Longford native journeyed to the old fair day, which carries on the tradition of the fair day of years past, and forms part of its wider heritage, arts, and crafts festival, which got underway on Saturday, August 5th.
Records show that Highland cattle are the oldest registered breed in the world, according to Shaughnessy, who has previously appeared on www.thatsfarming.com.
Hamish and Henry, from the Graffogue Fold, are “much-loved farm pets, are very docile, friendly, mild-mannered, easy going and very very spoilt,” according to Shaughnessy.
“They are half-brothers and are inseparable but have completely different personalities. Hamish is so lovely, calm, and laidback, while Henry is a handful, bossy but rather shy and domineers the cattle trough to eat all the cattle crunch and nuts”.
Given their hardy nature, they are kept outdoors 365 days a year and have special open feeders to accommodate their horns, to consume silage and hay in winter and grass all year around, along with crunch nuts.
Read more on this news story.
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