Quality, quality, quality! This continues to be the main driver at the National Sheep Association (NSA) Wales & Border Ram Sales. The team organising the established event has emphasised its commitment to delivering high performing but affordable stock to the commercial producer.
Despite costs being a challenge, sheep entry prices will be maintained at the same level again this year. This will ensure that some of the UK’s top breeders will continue to bring their rams to the Royal Welsh Showground for the sales in August and September recognising it as one of the best opportunities to sell stock well.
The NSA Wales & Border Ram Sales committee is grateful for the support from sponsors, trading partners, and, in particular, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society. Chairman, Graham Jones, added that there had been a considerable amount of work put in to cut costs and galvanise support.
Mr Jones says: “We’ve just got to hold the ship steady. We don’t want to do anything that’s going to detract from the quality of the sheep coming forward.
“We’re very pleased to say that we’re getting a good response from sponsorship and we’re able to make facilities better for the vendors and for the purchasers. We’ll concentrate on that, as we certainly don’t want to detract from the quality of the sheep by chasing numbers.
“The entry fee will remain the same this year. We had to think long and hard about it. We have to thank the Royal Welsh for meeting us a little bit with the cost of staging the sale at the showground.”
And Graham Jones stressed that while vendors do have to be NSA members to sell at the event, there are huge benefits to be had from that membership. Among other discounts on the £70 fee, there is a 50% membership reduction for young breeders under 27 years of age and a 20% discount in the first year paid by direct debit, membership also gains free entry to most NSA events and a subscription to the highly regarded NSA Sheep Farmer magazine.
The NSA Wales & Border Early Sale, taking place on Monday 7th August 2023 will once again have a section for recipient ewes. There are likely to be up to 400 sheep forward. Last year’s Early Sale saw a top price of 1700 guineas for a Charollais ram from RC & L Bowen, Haverfordwest.
Following the early sale the NSA Wales & Border Main Sale will be held on Monday 18th September attracting vendors offering in excess of 2500 sheep for sale.
For more information visit www.nsaramsales.co.uk
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