Young ram sells for record price

LANARK, Scotland, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A young ram shattered previous record prices at sheep sales this week in Scotland, selling for the equivalent of $377,000.

Deveronvale Perfection, a Texel tup, or ram, was bought by Jimmy Douglas, an Aberdeenshire sheep breeder, for 231,000 pounds at the Scottish National Texel Sale at Lanark Market, The Daily Telegraph reported. The price was more than 100,000 pounds above the previous record for a Texel, a breed originating on the Dutch island of Texel, and above the previous record sheep sale in Australia in the 1980s.

"Most people would see it as a ridiculous price for a sheep but, for a sheep breeder, it is an investment," said John Yates, chief executive of the Texel Sheep Society.

Deveronvale Perfection was produced by embryo transfer and born in February. His parents were one of the breed's leading tups, Kelso Oxygen, and a champion ewe, Knock Magnum.

While the Texel is prized for its lean meat, Deveronvale Perfection's future will not be at the meat counter.