Breed Description

Simmental

Simmentals originated from Switzerland. The Simmental breed grew to become Europe's dominant dual purpose beef/milk breed. Over the past 30 years, the Simmental breed spread to other continents, including North and South America, Africa and Australasia, where Simmentals are predominantly used for beef production.

Today there are over 50 million Simmentals worldwide, making the breed the second most numerous world breed following Bos Indicus breeds.

Breed Description

Mature Weight: Bulls: (1,000 to 1,200 kg) Cows: (550 to 800 kg)

Colour: From blonde to chestnut to cherry red, with white markings on the head, underside of brisket and belly. The legs and tail switch are generally white and there may be white patches on the body. Often dark pigmentation around the eyes and large eye patches.

Horns: Simmentals are naturally horned, but Simmental regulations require dehorning for registration. Polled strains of Simmental also exist.

Australian Simmental

Since its introduction to Australia in 1972, stud breeders have selected superior animals from Simmental's enormous worldwide genetic pool and coupled these genetics with selection for adaptation to Australia's wide range of environments and production systems.

The result is the Australian Simmental, a breed with all-round superior performance when used either as a pure breed or in crossbreeding programs.

Today's Australian Simmental is designed to Breed a Better $ Bottom Line.

The successful development of the Australian Simmental owes much to the skills of stud breeders in pursuing performance selection systems and selection for commercially important conformation and structural traits.

Superior Performance of Australian Simmental

The Australian Simmental is characterised by:

Rapid Weight Gain - First cross Simmental X British or Bos Indicus calves gain weight 10% to 20% faster, reaching market weight younger and earlier, reducing annual stocking pressure.
High Carcase Yield - The leaner, highly muscled Simmental and Simmental cross animal produces higher yields of saleable beef.
High Fertility - Simmental infused females reach puberty early, and enjoy long reproductive lives. Simmental bulls are renowned for their large scrotal size, high libido and ability to handle a high mating load. Using Simmental Breedplan, bulls can be selected for fertility and ease of calving EBVs.
Excellent Maternal Qualities - Milk and Mothering ability are important traits in replacement females. Simmental females excel in these traits, further boosting the weight of their weaner progeny.
Quiet Temperament - Simmental cattle are extremely docile and easy to manage if handled well. Most important in cattle management, in finishing programs and reducing stress in slaughter cattle.

All these are important to profitable commercial beef production, producing:
• more calves
• heavier and earlier turnoff
• higher carcase yields
• highly productive breeding females
• all with excellent temperament