SIMMENTAL’S
DUAL-PURPOSE TRAITS PAYING DIVIDENDS AT BALLYSTRONE
Commercial feature on Allister Calvin, County Londonderry who is seeing the strengths of the Simmental breed in producing suckler replacements, and in bull beef finishing.
C
ounty Londonderry farmer Allister Calvin initially bought a Simmental bull to produce suckler replacements, but quickly realised that the breed’s dual-purpose traits also delivered satisfactory results in his bull beef finishing unit. “The Simmental is a good all-rounder, offering beneficial maternal and terminal traits,” said Allister who farms in partnership with his father William at Ballystrone on the outskirts of Coleraine. The father and son duo have been crossing Simmental on their Limousin and Belgian Blue cross-bred cows. “The Simmental cross is the ideal suckler cow with good conformation, sound legs and feet, a nice temperament, great mothering ability and plenty of milk. “Over the years we have boosted our profitability by selling surplus heifers as replacements to repeat customers. Heifers are sold at approximately thirteen-months-old at a price equivalent to that of a finished animal.” 188
|
www.britishsimmental.co.uk
Our top performing bulls are ‘flying’ and can achieve 1.21 kilos of carcase gain per day, which is equivalent to 1.46 kilos daily liveweight gain from birth.”