Simmental News

"Simmentales" Newsletter.

The "Simmentales" Newsletter will be replaced by more regular, member only, communication by email.

Semen Registry

You will soon be able to list Bull Semen for sale on the website.

It will be listed by sire, with a link to the breeder and supplier.

Interested? Contact Alistair Miln simmentalnz@beefbreeders.co.nz

Latest Council Meeting Report

EXPO

This year’s Expo was a poor one for all breeds.  One of the main problems was the  almost complete absence of any commercial agents.  For Simmental our main problem was too many bulls.

The Expo committee has put together a questionnaire for the Councils of all the Breeds to fill in.

The Simmental Council decided after considerable debate to suggest that from now on Expo should be a Stud focussed Sale of Excellence for all breeds preferably held on one day only.  At this stage we have no idea what the Expo committee will finally come up with but regardless the Simmental Sale will be Stud focussed and much reduced in numbers.  We look forward to your comments.

BULL TEST STATION

A commercially focussed Test Station does not fit into our new Expo concept so Council has decided that a Test Station will no longer be a Council project.  We feel that the Breed has benefited enormously from the Test Station in terms of improving, throughout the membership, an awareness of temperament and structural soundness  but it has run its course and we will move on to other projects.

DNA SIRE REFERENCING

Now that all the protocols are in place for the storage of genetic material and your rights to it are safeguarded, this programme will be compulsory for the 2010 calf drop.

All 2009 joining bulls must have hair samples sent to PBB and profiled.
From now on all registered AI sires must be DNA profiled.
If you are using an AI sire without a profile let Alastair know as the Society has a large number of samples on file from the tenderness project of a number of years ago.

Imported ova MUST have DNA profile certificates for both sire and dam.
Calves born in 2010 from a sire without a DNA profile will be ineligible for registration.

Enclosed with this mailout are 3 DNA sample envelopes along with a DNA Testing and Sampling Guide.  If you require more envelopes please contact the office.

SNZ SEMEN BANK

We have decided to establish a semen bank which will be available for future developments in genetic technology.  In future if you have any semen you are disposing of, please don’t throw old straws out before you have transferred two to the SNZ storage facility at the Tararua Breeding Centre.

Article

CROSSBREEDING WITH SIMMENTALS IN THE UK

John and I took part in a Simmental World Congress Tour of Northern Ireland, Scotland and England in June 2008.  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.

Farmers in the UK, where almost all the finishing is done in sheds on grain are facing increasing costs as the price of grain rises.  Simmental cross cattle are enjoying increasing popularity with these farmers because of their ability to reach a suitable weight and grade more quickly than other breeds

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

In Scotland we went to a farm of 2,400 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 2,000 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 1,000 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.  At one stage they experimented with increasing the Angus input in the mix but found the progeny were not what the market wanted.

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.

Helen Ellis