4,500 rams on offer at Kelso.

Byline: Karen Dent

MORE than 4,500 rams are entered for this year's major sales at Kelso later this month. This year's event, which takes place on September 11, has attracted consignors from as Eire, Northern Ireland, Wales, Orkney and Shetland and the South West, as well as Northumberland and Borders farmers.

Ron Wilson, secretary of sale organiser the Border Union Agricultural Society, said: "This is the biggest ram-only sale in Europe - probably the world. There is a bigger sale 10 days later in Wales but that has females too. "There certainly are some very good stock sheep coming to the sales. The top here was pounds 20,000 for a Suffolk a couple of years ago.

"The overall breeds average last year was pounds 457. We are a very steady commercial trade."

The sale has an overall entry of 4,626 rams with 332 consignors. The figures are down on last year by around 800 tups and eight fewer consignors.

Mr Wilson said people were being more discerning and as a result, this year's quality would be higher.

"People are being more selective. For example, instead of a consignor who normally brings 20, they will look at them and bring 18," he said.

All tups entered for the sale have been vaccinated against bluetongue (BTV8) as a condition of entry, apart from those from Northern and Southern Ireland, which are bluetongue free zones. An export service from the sales to Ireland has been organised again this year. Texels are the top represented breed this year, with 1,627 entries, followed by Suffolk with 1,341 and Bluefaced Leicesters with 590.

There are also Charollais, Lleyn, Beltex, NCC, Border Leicesters, Berrichon Du Cher, Dutch Texels, Hampshire Downs, Millennium Bleu Du Maine, Oxford Down, and Vendeen rams on offer.

Last year's sales made a grand total of pounds 1,978,495 with rams selling for an average of pounds 457.56.

The top-priced shearling made pounds 8,000 and the top lamb pounds 5,000 - dwarfing the figures recorded at the first sale in 1838, when 120 Border Leicester and Cheviots made a total of pounds 700, with an average of just under pounds 6. The 13 sales rings, which will be selling simultaneously, are all under cover, and there will be around 40 trade stands at the event.

CAPTION(S):

PRIME Edward Campbell with a Suffolk ram at the 2006 Keslo ram sale.