The Irish Simmental Cattle Society is set to host its Premier Sale this Saturday, March 19, at Roscommon Mart.

The show and sale will see a total of 53 bulls and 23 heifers on offer to buyers on the day.

According to the society, the sale will feature bulls for all types of herds and budgets, offering heifers to suit farmers wanting to add to an existing herd of cows or looking for foundation breeding Simmental stock.

The showing section of the event is set to get underway at approximately 8:00a.m and auctioneer Mr. Denis Barrett will commence selling at 12:00p.m.

Online bidding is available to farmers through the LSL app (Roscommon Mart). Farmers logging on should contact Roscommon Mart be approved to bid.

All animals on offer at the sale have been pre-inspected and are eligible for export. Furthermore, the Irish Simmental Cattle Society will give a €200 voucher to the buyers of the top-five highest-priced bulls on the day.

The progeny on offer at the sale are primarily 4 and 5-star animals for either replacement or terminal traits, and more information on the cattle on offer is available on the Irish Simmental Cattle Society's website.

Following on from this, the breed society’s next sale will be the Tullamore Spring Sale which will take place on Friday, April 29, while the society will host a heifer sale in Roscommon on Wednesday, May 11.

Finally, the society will return to Roscommon on October 22, for its Autumn Premier Sale.

In other Simmental society news, last month, the appointment of a new general manager of the breed society was announced.

The new appointment is Deirdre McGowan, a native of Mohill, Co. Leitrim. Deirdre stepped into her new role as general manager of the breed society in February.

Deirdre has previous experience working with a breed producer group and also has experience working at livestock marts. She is no stranger to show cattle, having been involved in showing and breeding pedigree cattle of other breeds from a young age.

Commenting on the appointment, president of the Irish Simmental Cattle Society, Emmanuel O’Dea, said: “We are very impressed with the energy and enthusiasm that Deirdre has towards the role.

Concluding, the society president said: “We look forward to working with her to establish the Simmental breed as having a key role in improving the carbon footprint of both our dairy and suckler beef.”

Speaking to Agriland following her appointment, Deirdre said: “The Simmental breed is renowned for its excellent maternal abilities and commendable growth rates for their age and these traits are vital for sustainable beef production, which is important in today’s climate.

Deirdre also recently completed a masters in Agriculture and Biotechnology at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT).