Simmental cattle
The Simmental or Swiss Fleckvieh is a Swiss breed of dual-purpose cattle. It is named after the Simmental – the valley of the Simme river – in the Bernese Oberland, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The breed is typically reddish in colour with white markings, and is raised for both milk and meat.
History
European origin
Among the older and most widely distributed of all breeds of cattle in the world, and recorded since the Middle Ages, the Simmental breed has contributed to the creation of several other famous European breeds, including the Montbéliarde, the Pezzata Rossa d'Oropa, and the Fleckvieh.Africa
Namibia and South Africa were the first countries outside Europe where the breed was successfully established. Here the breed is known as Simmentaler and is mainly used for beef cattle production under suckler cow systems. The Simmentaler breeders' society is, as far as registered animals are concerned, by far the largest of the 17 European and British breeds. The main reasons for its popularity are it can be used with great success in crossbreeding for breeding of both cows with much milk and heavy weaners/oxen, its superb weight growth rate in feedlots - pure or crossed, and a strict visual inspection is compulsory for registration in the Herdbook.Soviet Union
In the former Soviet Union, the Simmental was the most important cattle breed. Russian Simmental accounted for one-quarter of all cattle in the USSR. Through extensive crossbreeding, six strains were developed:Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations / Domestic Animal Diversity Information System: . Retrieved 3 July 2013.- Steppe Simmental
- Ukrainian Simmental
- Volga Simmental
- Ural Simmental
- Siberian Simmental
- Far Eastern Simmental
Different names
The breed is known under the following names- Fleckvieh Simmental: Argentina
- Simmental: Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe
- Fleckvieh: Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay
- Simmentaler: South Africa and Namibia
- Local names based on the breed-name used in the official breed association names which boil down to "spotted cattle": Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia. Most of these countries use Simmental as a translation of their local name.
Montbéliarde: A French dairy breed. Member of European Simmental Federation but not of the World Simmental-Fleckvieh Federation.
Characteristics
Traditional
The Simmental has historically been used for dairy and beef, and as draught animals. They are particularly renowned for the rapid growth of their young, if given sufficient feed. Simmentals provide more combined weaning gain and milk yield than any other breed. They also have lower frequency of dental lesions compared to other breeds.Africa
In contrast to countries which allow black and solid brown coloured Simmental in the herdbook, Namibia and South Africa only register Simmentaler with the typical colour i.e. from dark red or brown to yellow spread over the body in any pattern with at least some white on the forehead and the lower-leg area, solid black or solid red animals are non-existent because they are not registered.Types
No other breed in the world has such a large within-breed-type variation as Simmental-Fleckvieh which is classifiable in the following types:- Dairy type like specialised dairy breeds ;
- Dual purpose but major emphasis on milk;
- Truly dual-purpose ;
- Moderate beef type ;
- Extreme beef type.