Press release
For immediate issue – 23 February 2015
Dirnanean Simmental Dispersal Announcement
One of the longest established and most successful Simmental herds in the UK is to be
dispersed on Saturday, September 12th at United Auctions’ Stirling Agricultural Centre.
Finlay McGowan’s Dirnanean herd based by Blairgowrie is famous for consistently producing
bulls, which have appealed to both commercial and pedigree breeders.
Bulls have always been produced naturally with performance and fertility the top
priority. Sires, which have been influential in the herd, include Stuartslaw Joseph, Arkmill
Franklyn and the imported Canadian bull AWL Polar.
Dirnanean has produced three record-priced bulls - Nugget, Typhoon and Bradley.
Included in the sale will be 66 cows with calves at foot/in calf along with in calf heifers and
maiden heifers, two stock bulls and some semen.
Mr McGowan said: “Over 43 years Judy and I have built up a herd we are proud of. We have
had a fair bit of success along the way, a lot of fun and made some very good Simmental
friends all around the world.
“It is now time for Neil to put his mark on the Simmental breed and he has recently
established his own Incheoch herd based on the five oldest cows and the youngest half of
the 2014 born heifers from the Dirnanean herd. All other females will be offered at the sale.
We hope that the next generation of McGowans have as much pleasure and success as we
have had.”
David Leggat, Executive Chairman of United Auctions said: “We’re delighted to conduct this
prestigious sale. For more than four decades Finlay and Judy McGowan have been pioneers
within the breed. Their focus has always been on genetics to suit the current market and
high performing Dirnanean bred cattle have also enjoyed success in the show ring.”
-EndsIssued by JK Consultancy on behalf of United Auctions. For further information, please
contact Jenny Kumar on 07989 557198 / jenny@jkconsultancy.com
Notes to editor
Photo caption: Finlay McGowan with some of the cattle available in the dispersal sale.
About United Auctions
United Auctions (UA) are Scotland’s leading livestock auctioneers and procurement
specialists and operate a network of different auction markets across Scotland, including
Stirling, Huntly, Lairg, Dalmally, Tiree, Islay, South Uist and an area office and lairage facility
at Oban. The company conducts auctions of both commercial and pedigree livestock,
including the world-famous Stirling Bull Sales, and provides farm-to-farm and farm-toabattoir procurement services. In 2013, UA was named in the London Stock Exchange’s
‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’.