The annual Ballaglonney Sheep Sale brought the crowds to Crosby last week.

The sale is normally a regular event in the rural calendar but did not take place last year because of the pandemic.

This year it was back with a bang. In what is a first for livestock sales in the island, buyers from across were also able to follow the proceedings and put in their bids through a live stream, set up for the auction by Juan Turner of Manx Television.

Prices held up well, even being slightly up on previous years.

Farmer Danny Creer said: ’Breeding prices have reflected finished prices which have gone up.

’I think people have been eating more lamb.

’The other thing is that the people who export a lot of lamb to the EU have been very smart and got their paperwork sorted out really quickly so there was a bit of a blip at first [after Brexit] but they soon got over that.’

In all, 650 sheep were sold on the day. The Texels cross ewes went for an average price of £172; the Suffolks cross ewes for an average of £197 with a top price of £205, and the Mule ewes for an average of £181 with a top price of £200.

The New Zealand Suffolk rams went for an average price of £650 with a top price of £780.

The Texel rams’ average price was £710, with three of them achieving a price of over £1,000.

The Charolais rams’ average price was £660 with a top price of £925.

Reflecting on the success of the sale, Danny said: ’Many of our customers have been coming to the sale for years and we are really grateful to them for their support. And we’d like to thank Central Marts and auctioneer Peter Quayle for making the day work.

’It was also great to take up the challenge of the live streaming, resulting in six rams being purchased online.’

Danny added that he got the idea for the live streaming through being aware that many farmers on the island follow UK sales online. He said: ’I had a lot of interest from the UK in my tups so I thought the live streaming would be a good way to do it.’

One ram who was not for sale was Ryders Cottoneye Joe, winner of the title Supreme Champion at this year’s Royal Show earlier this month. He was standing in splendour under a gazebo at the farm gate, being admired by everyone going into the sale. The Creers have been breeding Texel rams since 1978. They keep only the very best stock to ensure the standard of their animals remains high.

’There’s more than 40 years’ of breeding in our rams. You’ve got to have the right genetics, that’s what it’s all about,’ said Danny.