Rachel Maya Gallagher, Irish Farmers Journal Journalist Profile

Articles

NI Dutch Spotted spring sale tops at 2,300gns

1 week ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

The first Dutch Spotted sale of the year kicked off in Swatragh Livestock Market with a bang on Friday night. There was small entry of quality lots on offer, attracting a large crowd of buyers from across Ireland. Topping the sale at 2,300gns (€2,805) was an impressive late-January-born ewe lamb named Derg Ivy, from well-known Castlederg-based breeders Allen Shortt and Samantha Allen. This sale-topping ewe lamb sold alongside her recipient mother.
Just under 30 left to lamb on Tullamore Farm

1 week ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

After a busy month, lambing on Tullamore Farm is now almost at an end, with just under 30 hoggets left to lamb. The mature ewe flock is now finished lambing and out at grass, so we have a full report on how the flock has performed so far. All of the data was recorded trough the Sheep Ireland system. For the ewes, we recorded litter size, milking ability, lambing difficulty and mothering ability, while for the lambs we recorded lamb vigour and birth weight.
Large number of heavy hoggets hit the ring in Tullamore

2 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

A strong entry of hoggets, spring lambs and cull ewes were presented at Tullamore Mart for the weekly sheep sale. There was a high level of demand for all of the categories of sheep present. The demand was driven by factory agents and feedlot buyers. There was a large number of hoggets on offer weighing over 60kg. These heavy hoggets sold from €208 to €246/head. The majority of the hogget entry was made up of those weighing from 50kg to 60kg and they sold from €202 to €225.
Skipton spring working dog sale tops out at £9,000

2 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

There was a bumper entry of just over 50 working dogs available for sale at the recent CCM Skipton Auction Mart’s spring working sheepdog sale. The entries came from right across England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It was a well-bred rising two-year-old black, white and mottled dog called Jim that topped the sale selling for £9,000 (€10,491). Jim was brought to sale by young southwest Wales handler and triallist, Llion Harries.
Camera at the Mart: lively trade leads to 100% clearance for weanlings

2 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

An entry of just under 1,500 cattle were present in Carnew Livestock Mart on Saturday for the weekly weanling sale. The trade was lively throughout the sale, with ringside and online buyers pushing up prices on the previous week. This led to a 100% clearance. The sale was topped by a Belgian Blue-cross bullock weighing 818kg that sold for €4,170 (€5.10/kg). The heifer section had the largest entry, with well over 400 heifers.
Camera at the Mart: spring lambs hit a high of €6/kg in Raphoe

2 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

There was a bumper entry in Raphoe for the first spring lamb sale on Monday. There was also a large number of quality ewes and lambs and dry ewes on offer. Quality lots from all of the categories were highly sought after and prices were up greatly on the previous week. There was a large entry of spring lambs and they were in hot demand from both local butchers and factory agents.
Jim tops Skipton spring working dog sale at £9,000

2 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

There was a bumper entry of just over 50 working dogs available for sale at the recent CCM Skipton Auction Mart spring working sheepdog sale. The entries came from right across England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It was a well-bred rising two-year-old black, white and mottled dog called Jim that topped the sale, selling for £9,000 (€10,491). Jim was brought to sale by young Wales handler and triallist Llion Harries.
Spring barley sown on Tullamore Farm

2 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

It has been another busy week on the farm with more ewes lambing, cows calving and 11 acres of spring barley sown. Eleven acres of spring barley are being incorporated into a reseeding programme with poorer performing paddocks being identified and earmarked for reseeding. The aim is to return these paddocks back to grass after harvest. The designated area was ploughed, tilled and then sown using a one-pass planter. The seed was sown at a rate of 170kg per hectare.
Camera at the Mart: high demand leads to 100% clearance in Dowra

3 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

There was a bumper entry of just under 1,000 sheep in Dowra Mart at the weekly sheep sale. Demand for all categories of sheep on offer was high and it led to an impressive clearance rate of 100%. With a slightly larger entry of heavy hoggets than previous weeks, the demand was also up, leading to a price increase of €5 to €10 per head on the previous week’s prices. In the store hogget section, the entry was down slightly on the previous week, but prices remained on par with the rising sheep prices.
Ballymaconnelly Hobnob tops the 10th Dorset Diamonds sale

3 weeks ago | farmersjournal.ie | Rachel Maya Gallagher

A crowd of Dorset enthusiasts gathered in Ballymena Livestock Market for the highly anticipated 10th anniversary Dorset Diamonds show and sale of Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset sheep. There was an extremely strong standard of sheep on offer and this was evident throughout the sale with many lots selling into four-figure sums. The female section achieved a strong overall clearance rate of 92% and the male section achieved an overall clearance rate of 74%.