Aaron Myles will officiate as judge at the Irish Texel Society premier show and sale which take places at Blessington Mart, Co. Wicklow on Friday (August 14th) and Saturday (August 15th).
The Myles family farm is based near Ballyshannon, south Donegal. The mixed farm is home to pedigree Texel sheep, Limousin suckler cows and a poultry enterprise.
Aaron grew up on the family farm with two brothers Sam, Joshua, all of whom are farming enthusiasts.
After school, Aaron, whose interests have also been in sheep and poultry, attended Gurteen Agricultural College. After college, he secured a summer job at Strathbogie in Aberdeen and ended up staying for a two-year period.
From there, Aaron and his girlfriend ventured to Harestone where they remained for three years. He gained invaluable experience on both farms, working with the Texel breed, turning sheep out for shows and sales.
He attended many shows and sales and participated in many including the Highland show, Lanark, Carlisle, Kelso and Thainstone, averaging over 10,000gns at Lanark last year for five tup lambs.
Texels
There have been Texels on the home farm for as long as the young farmer can remember.
His father, Neville, established Silverhill Texels back in the early 1990s, with a view to producing high-end commercial ram lambs and shearlings “that are not pushed but fit for the purpose they are bought for”.
“We do some selective ET work on the farm with the best breeding families to get the use of the best genetics.”
“We try and buy a new stock ram every year to modernise and improve the flock with emphasis on correctness, carcass and skins.”
“Texels work well on our farm as they are full of life, easy to manage with good vigour and good suitability to our climate.”
[Some of their entries for this year’s sale are pictured throughout this article]
The family sell progeny at the society’s premier sale in Blessington in August and the Donegal Texel club sales in Raphoe, with business also conducted at home with many repeat customers.
In 2018, the flock achieved the top price of 15,000gns at Blessington with Silverhill Bushtrucker.
In-lamb gimmers are sold privately for the last number of years; they also go under the hammer at Donegal Texel club sales and most recently at Carrick Christmas Belles December 2019 with kind permission of Ronan Gallagher and Jimmy Garvin, achieving a top price of 3,000gns, respectively
“It’s a tremendous honour and privilege to have been asked to judge this year, the main Irish Texel sale of the year in Blessington.”
“I am looking forward to seeing the quality and high standard of sheep. Best of luck to all.” Aaron concluded.
Information
For further information, please see the society’s website, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Images supplied by Irish Texel Society
