Events

Simmental NZ Beef Expo Sale Results

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TOTAL SALES: $0
AVG PRICE: $0
MIN PRICE: $0
MAX PRICE: $0

From the Horowhenua Show, 2009

Champion Bull calf and Reserve Champion Male:

Kapiti Warrior

Champion Yearling bull and Champion Male

Kapiti Universe

Champion Yearling heifer , Champion Female and Supreme Champion

Kapiti Unity

World Simmental Congress 2010

Further information: World Simmental Congress 2010 website

By Helen Ellis

John and I have recently returned from a Simmental World Congress Tour of Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. During the fifteen day tour we were privileged to visit a number of Simmental Studs where we saw cattle with tremendous scope and fleshing. The thing that really impressed us was the uniformity of type and quality in the cattle.

We also visited several very interesting commercial operations using Simmental genetics in various ways.

In Scotland we went to a farm of 2400 acres running from an altitude of 700 to 900 ft with a rainfall of 50 inches per year some of which chose to fall while we were out looking at the stock and even in the middle of summer it was freezing. On this farm the cows are only housed while they are actually calving and are then put out again when the calves are a week old.

They run 200 pedigree Luing cows which are incredibly hardy hill cows being a hybrid of the Highland cow and Beef Shorthorn. Half these cows are mated to the Simmental to make up a commercial herd which is then put to a Charolais bull. The progeny are sold as yearlings at an average weight of 450 kgs. Using Simmental x as suckler cows as they call them, raises the milk production and adds to the ability of the progeny to grow rapidly into large meaty animals which consistently top the yearling sales and grade exactly to the requirements of the abattoir.

In the Cotswolds we visited a 2000 acre estate with very different contour and climate from Scotland . Here the cattle are all housed in the winter to protect the pastures. Although the property is 1000 ft above sea level it is on a plateau with flat to gently rolling land which gets very wet in the winter.

The suckler cows are Simmental Angus to second cross with bulls of both breeds being used to maintain the cross. The Simmental bulls are used over heifers as well as the older cows with no problems although the calves by the Simmental bulls are larger at birth than those by the Angus bull. When we saw them at about 2mths old all the calves were extremely well grown with excellent fleshing but those by the Simmental bulls were still larger.

Simmentals were imported into Britain because of their ability to milk well as a suckler cow and finish quickly as a prime animal. Simmentals were imported into New Zealand to cross with the British breeds to increase carcass size, reduce fat cover and finish quickly. Unfortunately the attributes of the Simmental x cow have not been utilised enough and thus half the advantage of using a Simmental bull in a breeding programme is being lost.