71 Bulls average £11,025, ten more sold on the year Simmental leads all-breed averages, numbers sold, and joint top price £11,025 is second highest ever average at Stirling in October 26 make 10,000gns or more, with four at 20k and over Commercial buyers go to...
MULLYKNOCK SCORPIO SELLS TO ATLOW SIMMENTALS IN ‘SUBSTANTIAL FIVE FIGURE’ DEAL! The much admired 16-month-old Pedigree Simmental bull, Mullyknock Scorpio, winner of numerous show ring accolades in Northern Ireland, has been sold in a substantial five figure private...
14 Simmental bulls average £7857 4 Simmental bulls at £10,000 and over ToP priced bull goes to Orkney The annual on-farm ‘Working Genes’ sale held at the McGowan family’s Incheoch Farms in the Angus Glens, on Tuesday 8th September, saw another strong demand for grass...
In a massive endorsement of British Simmental’s commercial abilities, data from AHDB’s National Beef Evaluations has confirmed that on average, calves by a Simmental sire finish 36 days earlier than those by continental sires and 46 days earlier than calves by native sires; Simmental sired calves can cost £72 less to finish; and that fast finishing equates to 5.4kg less CO2 equivalents. The data also highlights the advantages of Simmental females with continental sired calves out of Simmental dams finishing 29 days earlier than the average of all suckler dams!
AHDB’s National Beef Evaluations produce EBVs for five carcase and three maternal traits for all breeds and crossbred cattle across the UK. Rather than using performance recorded data, data is collated nationally from BCMS, as well as many of the UK’s largest processors and abattoirs. This database includes records from over 3 million animals slaughtered in the last 10 years, which allows AHDB to estimate the genetic merit of beef cattle, including over 500,000 sires, for days to slaughter, carcase weight and EUROP scores.
Days to slaughter has a huge effect on the efficiency of a farm. Animals which take longer to finish cost more in terms of feed, so reduce overall profit. These animals also produce more greenhouse gases and so reducing days to slaughter reduces the carbon footprint of your beef. In the National Beef Evaluations, Simmentals rank highly for this trait in Continental Breeds (August 2023and have, on average, the best genetic merit for reducing days to slaughter. The actual performance data of Simmental bred offspring can also be looked at to see how this translates to actual performance.
Across all types of dams (blue bars), offspring of registered Simmental sires have the lowest average days to slaughter.
It’s important to remember that a bull only provides half of the genetics inherited by a calf. The other half comes from the dam.
Commenting, British Simmental Cattle Society President Norman Robson said: “British Simmental is a hard-working, no nonsense beef breed that delivers on all-round performance and profitability for commercial beef producers and these figures confirm and highlight that. In the forward industry with a pressure on costs, there really is going to be a premium on efficiency. Simmentals are showing here, in data over ten years, that they give you more both maternally and terminally. Industry leading at age at slaughter whether sired by a Simmental or out of a Simmental dam, significant reduction in finishing costs, and lower emissions meeting environmental challenges. Add that to the breeds well established maternal qualities of easy and regular calving, milk, fertility, and longevity and its just good economics for beef producers.
“Earlier in the year the Simmental Bull Buyer’s Survey saw the commercial performance of the breed get a 94% approval rate. These latest figures hugely add to that and as breeders we will collectively keep working hard at producing Simmental cattle to meet the needs of commercial producers.”
The released data comes on the eve of the Stirling Simmental Bull Sale due to be held at United Auctions, Stirling on Monday 23rd October.
