Fleeced or a baa-gain? Prize ram sells for record £367,000

IF A farmer told you he had a sheep worth a third of a million pounds, you’d probably think he was pulling the wool over your eyes.

But not so here, as this prize ram has sold for a staggering UK record of £367,500.

The six month- old called Sportsmans Double Diamond is from the in- demand Texel breed.

It was sold by Charles Boden, a farmer from Stockport, Greater Manchester, having been brought up on a Peak District.

The sheep went for such a high price because of the breed’s popularity and because it is currently the peak time for farmers beginning to breed for next year’s lambs.

The ram sold for 350,000 guineas this week, smashing the previous record by more than 50 per cent.

Rams, like some other livestock including horses, are sold in guineas due to tradition. The 5 per cent difference between the value of guineas and sterling was historically taken by the auctioneer as a tip.

Put into perspective, the amount paid for this ram far surpasses the average price of a home in Britain – which is roughly £235,000.

Texel Sheep Society chief executive John Yates said: ‘ This will, to many people, sound like an extraordinary price for a sheep.

‘This ram lamb has the potential to sire many, many rams which will in turn go on to breed many thousands of lambs themselves.’

The previous record ram sale of 220,000 guineas – £231,000 – was made at the same auction site in Lanark, Scotland, in 2009. Sportsmans Double Diamond was bought by a group of three Scottish breeders – Auldhouseburn, Procters and New View.