Ballymote Sale 2016
Arising out of a routine review of our Ballymote Sale by the Western Simmental Club it was agreed to put in place a plan that would ensure that the sale maintains it’s much coveted position as the leading Breeding Heifer Sale. Following this review a further meeting was held on December 9th, at which sellers joined Club members to agree on measures to achieve the above outcome.
1. Inspections – Over the last number of years there has been calls for increased pre sale inspections and therefore it has been agreed that all heifers entered will be subject to inspection by an independent inspector. This inspector will be appointed by the Committee and will be charged with the task of achieving a more uniform standard. Exhibitors will enter on the condition that they will be subject to a pre sale inspection and that they will accept the inspector’s decision as final.
2. Sale Day Inspection – There is a view which has developed over the years that some sellers has allowed heifers lose condition getting close to the sale and to counteract this it has been agreed to re inspect all heifers on the morning of the sale.
3. DNA – As a result of the BDGP scheme and subsequent Genomic / DNA sampling, it has been agreed to randomly sample a selection of heifers. These samples will be taken at inspection. This is seen as a move to give increased integrity to the sale and also give increased confidence to purchasers.
As it is not possible to determine how the agreed inspection criteria will affect entry and accepted numbers, the following was agreed in relation to entry criteria.
It was agreed to continue with the present policy of allowing 10 entries plus an additional 10 which would be accepted/declined depending on overall entry level.
It was also agreed to open entries to farmers using A.I. Simmental. The criteria here are that at least 5 (or 100 % in the case of a farmer will less than five inseminations) animals within the herd must be inseminated to Simmental within the previous 9 months and that these A.I. records must be recorded on ICBF system. These entrants will be subject to a minimum €50 entry fee which would cover up to 5 animals and the standard €10 per animal thereafter.
It is hoped that we can all work together to maintain and improve the overall Ballymote package and ensure that this highly recognisable sale goes from strength to strength.