British Simmental Review 2023

2023
Annual
Review
No. 44
SOCIETY STAFF
Iain Kerr
iain@britishsimmental.co.uk
THERE’S MORE
TO SIMMENTAL
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British Simmental Cattle Society
NAC
Stoneleigh Park
Warwickshire
CV8 2LG
Welcome to the 2023 Review as we
reflect on what has been a strong
year of performance, across so
many fronts, for the Simmental breed in the
United Kingdom. Highlighting the year has
been a series of record averages and strong
clearances at the sales; increased total sales
gross; increased pedigree registrations
for the second consecutive year; a welter
of interbreed successes at summer and
winter shows; and independently verified
data confirming the industry leading added
value and efficiency of Simmental cattle.
It’s been quite a year!
Sales are by far the best indicator of the
commercial relevance of a breed and its
position in the beef industry. To this end,
and for the second year in a row, we can
take great confidence from the record
averages set at all three Stirling sales in the
year, and with further breed record marks
set at both Aberdeen and Carlisle. In the
Society’s most recent survey, the breed
received a very strong 94% approval rate
from commercial buyers who confirmed
that they would purchase further Simmental
bulls. Prior to the autumn sales, National
Beef Evaluation (NBE) data over ten years,
clearly showed there’s more to Simmental:
industry leading at age at slaughter whether
sired by a Simmental or out of a Simmental
dam; a significant reduction in finishing
costs; and lower emissions meeting
environmental changes. In addition to the
breed's well recognised maternal qualities,
further NBE data, highlighted in this Review,
evidences the breed’s industry strengths
in such as age at first calving, longevity
and fertility, and calf survival. In a cost
conscious industry beef producers have
choices in their purchases. The increased
demand for Simmental bulls and breeding
females across the sales I think is indicative
of the ever increasing recognition of the
Simmental breeds ability to add value,
efficiency and profitability to commercial
herds.
I would congratulate the breeders on
the quality of Simmental cattle they are
producing at the point of sale and would
again encourage rigorous selection and
the use of performance technologies to
enhance improvements. The forward
industry will have its challenges and
we know that such as farm and suckler
payments, and grading systems, may
well be linked to carbon savings; beef
sustainability; improved genetics;
benchmarking and efficiency. The verified
industry data shows the Simmental breed is
very well placed to meet these challenges.
As a Society we are working hard to provide
the progressive balance of herdbook,
promotional, research, and technical
services. In the 2024 year in addition to
core work we will be introducing Single
Step genomics to increase EBV accuracies
and open up research possibilities, and will
also be looking to introduce an ecommerce
semen site to professionally market
Simmental genetics and grow the reach of
the breed. These added value initiatives are
all with the aim of building a platform to
future proof the Simmental breed and the
Society.
I hope that you enjoy the 2023 Simmental
Review.
Norman Robson
BSCS President
8 | www.britishsimmental.co.uk