A chance to buy Ile de France at Swatragh Mart

The Ile de France Sheepbreeders Club have taken the opportunity to add a new venue to theirsales list.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Sep 2023, 09:00 BST
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Wednesday 4th October sees the Ile de France breed hold their first Club Sale at Swatragh Market at an evening sale.

With nearly 50 years of breeding since the first imports in the 1970’s the Northern Ireland Ile de France Club is looking forward to bringing stock to Swatragh market for a recognised club sale.

Consignees will include Rodney Balfour from Mullygarry, Enniskillen who has become a celebrity amongst club members through the profile generated by the Open Farm Weekends earlier in the summer. The interviews and live broadcasts on social media highlighted the work done by Rodney, Emma & Sam as a shining example of how to add value to a sheep business . With their desire to open a farm shop to supplement the farm income, Rodney was attracted to the Ile de France for its ability to produce high quality lamb 12 months of the year in his quest to provide a constant product to his customers, quickly realised that there was further advantages by developing a pedigree flock to have the added value of sales of pedigree livestock to further supplement the farm income.

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The Balfour's most successful ewe has been used for an ET programme to increase her genetics within the flockThe Balfour's most successful ewe has been used for an ET programme to increase her genetics within the flock
The Balfour's most successful ewe has been used for an ET programme to increase her genetics within the flock

Initially this was in the form of repeat “home” sales of shearling rams, however having excelled in the show ring in recent years especially at Balmoral 2022 & 2023 and this success resulted in the sale of a stock ram to a prominent pedigree breeder in England has encouraged Rodney to support the club sales with a consignment of ram lambs.

To facilitate this growing demand in addition to ewes going for natural service, Rodney has also included his prize winning female ewe in his “flush” team for 2023. Rodney is a great ambassador for the breed and as his regular clients at the Mullygarry Farm Shop can confirm “the proof is in the eating” and will convincingly argue the eating quality and high meat yield of loin from the Ile de France is consistent and excellent.

A show class will be held in advance of the sale , giving purchasers the opportunity to view the quality of stock on display and a chance to try a ram for themselves.

Related topics:Enniskillen