One of the oldest Limousin herds in the country, the Thomastown pedigree herd, property of John Downey, The Rower, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, will be dispersed on Monday 6 June in Roscrea mart.

This is one of the biggest dispersals of Limousin cattle in recent years, with 166 cattle on offer including maiden and in-calf heifers, cows with calves at foot, in-calf cows and young bulls.

Established in 1977, the herd has grown organically over the last 40 years through the use of top AI genetics.

John’s philosophy has always been to produce a cow that can calve naturally, have enough milk to rear its own calf and be easily handled.

To this end, French-bred bulls backed up by reliable maternal indices were commonly used in the herd. Bulls such as Dauphin, Villy, Epson, Highlander and Espoir are prominent in the back breeding of many of the females, while in latter years, Ionesco, Ondit and Bavardage have been the sires of choice.

More recently, John started using English genetics, which he believes can produce a good balanced animal that has the capacity to achieve serious carcase conformation, weight gain and style.

By operating a closed system, there has been no TB in the herd for over 20 years. Carrying BVD negative status, the Thomastown herd is Johne’s accredited through the Limo Leader Health Programme and all breeding stock are vaccinated for Lepto and BVD.

Many of the females on offer on 6 June will be in-calf to bulls such as Ampertaine Gigolo, Wilodge Joskins, Netherhall Jackpot, Ampertaine Elgin, Kaprico Eravelle, and Wilodge Goldcard.

A viewing of animals takes place at Roscrea on Sunday 5 June from 4pm and the sale kicks off on Monday 6 June at 12pm.

Photographs of the herd can be viewed on the Thomastown Limousin Facebook page. For catalogues, see www.irishlimousin.com or call John on 086-4096285.