Profits from hill sheep farming are very dependent on store lamb price, according to Teagasc.

Research officer with Teagasc, Frank Campion was speaking at the recent Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference 2026, where he outlined that up to 50% of the national ewe flock comprises hill sheep.

He explained that hill sheep are vital for rural economies and the maintenance of natural landscapes.

Teagasc researchers have been undertaking studies and experiments involving hill sheep which they hope will be beneficial to advisors and farmers.

Hill lamb finishing experiments

Campion explained that most hill farmers' land base has approximately 10% of lowland pasture or 'green ground' where lambs can be grazed post-weaning.

According to Teagasc, around 300,000-400,000 hill-bred lambs are sold as store lambs every year.

Most lambs are finished to carcasses of 18-21kg and there are "limited but important markets" for 'light' hill lamb carcasses of 12-16kg, according to Campion.

The main goals by the researchers was to develop sustainable conventional and organic finishing systems for store lamb producers as well as hill farmers.

The research centres around lamb finishing systems in outdoor forage based environments and also in indoor ad-lib cereal-based situations.

Forage-based finishing systems

One study compared the performance of Suffolk Blackface (SBF) lambs and Texel x SBF (TXSB) when grazed on either perennial ryegrass-based pastures, forage brassica crops or offered ad-lib concentrates indoors.

The graph below shows the effect of dietary treatment on lamb average daily gain (g/day).

The letters in the graph above refer to the following:

ALC: Ad-lib concentrates indoors;
FR: Forage rape (Stego);
HB: Hybrid brassica;
K: Kale (Maris kestrel);
RS: Reseed;
PP: Permanent pasture.

The studies also demonstrated the effect of lamb type on lamb average daily gain (g/day) across diet types (see graph below).

Campion outlined a case study of one of the Teagasc BETTER farm participants.

Eddie Gavin operates a beef, tillage and sheep farm in Co. Carlow.

Hill cross type lambs were purchased in 2022 and 2023 and no lambs were bought in 2024 due to crop availability.

Hill cross and purebred hill lambs were purchased in 2025 and the lamb performance is outlined below.

'Light' lamb finishing studies

Studies were also carried out to examine the performance of Scottish Blackface ram and castrate lambs when offered two dietary treatments and slaughtered 12-16kg carcass weight.

The conference heard that there are limited markets for lamb carcasses between 12kg and 16kg with fat cover and limited information performance.

The criteria used was that they were selected for slaughter once ram lambs were more than 33kg and wethers lambs were more than 32kg.

The target grade was R with minimum fat cover of two.

The following is the effect of dietary treatment on lamb average daily gain, according to Teagasc.