Farming in the 'Royal County' in Ardmulchan near Navan, Co. Meath is Catherine Smyth, who has a real reverence for the art of pedigree cattle breeding and producing beef cattle.

Catherine is a third-generation pedigree Hereford breeder and is following in the footsteps of her grandfather and father.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Agriland Beef Brief podcast, Catherine said: "We have been breeding Herefords at home here since 1933"

Click here to listen to the podcast.

"My grandfather Thomas established the herd back then, my father has continued it for decades and now I've taken over in the past couple of years," she said.

In the podcast, Catherine details areas of focus in cattle breeding including cow families, progeny performance, carcass traits, and the overall structure of the animal.

As well as the pedigree herd, Catherine also has a herd of beef cattle which are slaughtered at Kepak through Irish Hereford Prime where a breed bonus is available on all eligible Hereford cattle.

She recently travelled to the World Angus Forum in Australia and detailed some of her experiences from the event.

Catherine also noted that she is set to travel to Kansas in the US later this year to the World Hereford Conference as part of a team representing the Irish Hereford Breed Society.

She highlighted the benefit of initiatives such as the Angus Youth Development Programme (YDP) and Next Gen Herefords, which act as a network for young cattle enthusiasts where they can learn and develop their knowledge and skills relating to all aspects of cattle breeding and production.

These initiative also allow members to meet new people with similar interests.

With the summer 2025 agricultural shows now well underway, Catherine - who is secretary of her the cattle section of her local show, The Royal Meath Show, in Trim, Co. Meath, which takes place on Sunday, September 7 - detailed some of the key events coming up in the local show scene this year.

The cattle breeding enthusiast refused to be drawn on the likelihood of potential show winners from the Ardmulchan Herd that may feature on the show scene this summer.