WHY
British Simmental Cattle: The Profitable Choice for UK Farms
British Simmental cattle are a modern beef breed prized for their economic importance and profitability in UK beef production, combining outstanding milk and maternal qualities with strong muscle, growth, and carcase traits. The breed is the UK’s number one ranked continental breed for age at slaughter, a strength evidenced by SRUC & AHDB’s National Beef Evaluations. British Simmental also holds the largest pedigree genetic base in Europe and is the second largest numerical beef breed globally, with an estimated 60 million head across six continents. These characteristics make Simmental an efficient, flexible, and high-value choice for UK farmers seeking productive cows and fast-growing calves.
What Makes British Simmental a Modern Beef Breed?
BRITISH
What are the Key Traits of British Simmental for Profitability?
After fifty years of farming and breeding, British Simmental is a unique, modern beef breed full of quality and the demonstrable traits of economic importance that bring profitability to beef producers. You think Simmental and you think of efficient and profitable beef production from grass. The mix of Simmentals outstanding milk and maternal qualities, combined with muscle, growth, and carcase traits all adds up to essential profit. There’s a bright future for British Simmental breeding and genetics in the UK and overseas market.
How are British Simmental Cattle Designed for the UK?
British Simmental cattle are specifically designed for the diverse farming systems and environmental conditions found across the UK. Their adaptability and robust nature make them an ideal choice for farmers seeking productive and efficient beef cattle suited to the local climate and agricultural practices.
British Simmental is established as one of the most numerical and profitable beef breeds in the UK industry and with the natural built-in efficiency of being genuinely ‘dual purpose’. Retaining its renowned maternal and terminal traits, continuous breeding and improvement sees the modern Simmental have a distinct British signature with the breed adaptable to all geographies and systems around the UK. It’s a no nonsense beef breed. Easy to look after, efficient, flexible, giving you added value, and with a hard-working ethos that gets the job done.
How is British Simmental Making Its Mark in the Industry?
British Simmental is making its mark as a leading beef breed due to its proven economic importance and adaptability. The breed's strong maternal traits, fertility, growth rates, and carcase quality contribute significantly to its growing influence and recognition among UK farmers and the wider beef industry.
A maternal mainstay and one of the leading terminal breeds in the UK, British Simmental has the largest pedigree genetic base and population in Europe, and at world level is the second largest numerical beef breed, with an estimated 60 million head spread over six continents. The formula is familiar worldwide with the strength of milk and maternal, and beef production at minimum cost, seeing Simmental increasing productivity and adding to profit.
Why are British Simmental the 'Go-To' Suckler Females?
British Simmental are the 'go-to' suckler females due to their exceptional maternal traits, including high fertility, excellent milk production, and strong mothering instincts. These qualities ensure productive cows and healthy, fast-growing calves, making them a reliable choice for efficient suckler herds.
British Simmental is the ideal base line for the modern suckler cow. You get milky, long-lasting, productive females producing fast-growing calves. Heifers and cows are easy to manage, easy to calve, with the breed having excellent fertility and terrific temperament. With versatility and flexibility, putting any breed of bull to a Simmental female will give you fast growing, easy fleshing progeny. See the performance and profit boost of adding Simmental genetics to your breeding females.
Why is British Simmental the Leading Breed for Age at Slaughter?
British Simmental is recognized as the leading breed for age at slaughter due to its exceptional growth rates and efficient feed conversion. This allows farmers to achieve market weight faster, reducing production costs and improving overall profitability, as evidenced by national beef evaluations.
Renowned for its maternal qualities the Simmental breed, SRUC & AHDB’s National Beef Evaluations, has evidenced its terminal strengths for carcase traits and is the UK’s number one ranked continental breed for age at slaughter. This, coupled with its growth advantages, daily live weight gain, and ability to produce beef from grass, sees Simmental’s ability to deliver a green beef product with a reduced carbon footprint, and increased profitability.
How Does British Simmental Ensure Continuous Genetic Improvement?
British Simmental ensures continuous genetic improvement through rigorous breeding programs, data collection, and advanced genomic selection. This commitment to genetic progress leads to enhanced traits such as fertility, growth, and carcase quality, benefiting farmers with increasingly productive and efficient cattle.
Continuous breeding and improvement has seen the Simmental breed make significant genetic progress in both Terminal and Self Replacing Indexes over the last 20 years, with breed averages for these indexes increasing by over 50%. The biggest improvements have been in terminal traits such as weaning weight, yearling weight, and finishing weight. Maternally milkiness remains a strength of the Simmental breed where the breed average EBV has also increased by 50% since 2000.
