Simmental Characteristics
The Simmental is a heavy dual-purpose breed suitable both as a beef cattle breed and a dairy breed. With its roots in the Simme valley in central Switzerland and it has contributed to a number of other European breeds, including the Fleckvieh and Montbeliarde.
The Simmental was Introduced into the UK in 1970, the breed has established itself as a popular terminal sire for beef producers. The Simmental’s dual purpose roots make the cows docile and milky suckler dams with a good maternal instinct..
The Simmental is described as pied, there is no set coat colour with a range from very dark red through to a pale golden yellow while the head is almost always white, a characteristic that is passed on to crossbred calves.
A mature Simmental can grow to 145 cm and weigh 700-900kg while the bulls are 158-160 cm and average 1300kg.
Breed Benefits:
- Dual purpose breed
- Beef breed
- Dairy breed
- Bulls make good terminal sires
- Cows are milky suckler cows
- Intensively finished animals are capable of 2kg/day daily liveweight gain
- High carcass weight and fine-grained beef
Breed Society: http://www.britishsimmental.co.uk/