President’s Message

PRESIDENT’S

MESSAGE

Can I welcome you to the annual Simmental Review, the flagship publication of the British Simmental breed. This year’s Review is again packed with over 220 pages of content of all things British Simmental, the UK’s number one continental beef breed for age at slaughter, and recognised as a maternal mainstay of the country’s suckler herd. I’m delighted to say that the 2021 Review highlights a strong year of breed performance at the point of sale, both in pedigree and commercial rings, and indicative of an increasing commercial demand for the breed’s dual-purpose qualities. As well as all of the usual features you will see that this year’s publication again focuses on profiling commercial and pedigree herds, situated across all regions of the UK, using Simmental genetics to advantage and increasing profitability.

The inaugural Next Generation Simmental Sale of Females & Weaned Calves at Carlisle in December 2021 saw a top price of 16,000gns for a weaned calf, and with an excellent sale clearance and strong averages. It rounded off the year on the front foot, confirming the demand for quality Simmental cattle, and bringing a sprinkle of ‘feel good’ factor to the membership. Through the year, and due to the Covid situation, numbers were again reduced at sales across all breeds, but the Simmentals still enjoyed some record breaking averages and prices at centres across the country. In addition to the Next Gen Sale at Carlisle, the May trade at Worcester saw a record breed average and it remains an ongoing priority to further develop the breed’s sales in England. Highlighting the sale year, and underpinning strong Stirling sales, February 2021 saw a Simmental breed record sale average set of £6482 (+£1443 on the year), and a top price of 26,000gns, the second highest for a Simmental bull sold at auction in the UK. Most encouragingly, quality Simmental bulls sold readily to commercial and pedigree buyers in all four home countries. The Review is also the perfect vehicle for me to again thank each and every member for your ongoing support of British Simmental, it is greatly valued and appreciated. The Society is built around the foundations of the membership and the sole aim is to provide you with professional membership and technical services, whilst promoting the breed to best advantage and developing new and existing markets. In the year over forty new members joined the Society which is another huge positive. I’d like to welcome all to the Simmental family and wish you many years of successful breeding with British Simmental. This is also a timely point to touch on those members who have sadly passed away in the year and fitting tributes are paid within the Review. Each added so much to the breed and Society respectively. We have valued their friendship over the years, and our thoughts are with their families.

Through 2021 we have worked hard to engage with commercial producers to promote the efficiency and profitability of the breed and will continue to do so as a further priority. Highlighting the performance of the breed at auction marts across the country and through social media has galvanised this and proved popular. So please do forward any market snippets of Simmentals ‘doing the business’ at sales and we’ll be happy to publish them. In the year ahead we are looking to extend this commercial engagement and are aiming to initiate a series of farm Open Days at herds with a Simmental influence. I feel there is no better promotion than seeing the breed in action, close up and personal, and on a working farm that we can all relate to. The Society has also worked hard to develop its social media presence and particularly through Facebook to push such events. Regular posts highlighting the abilities and qualities of Simmental cattle around the country, and advertising performance and upcoming sales have proven to be a powerful and cost-effective breed promotional tool.

Keeping the positives going, and reflecting a little breed momentum, it is very pleasing to report to members that in the first six months of the 2021/2022 registration year, Simmental registrations have maintained an increase of close on 12% on the year. We very much hope that this is a sustained ‘positive trend’, and I would encourage breeders that registering your selected animals brings an increased level of provenance, integrity, security, and of course marketability. In the course of last year we received confirmation from DEFRA of the approval of the Fleckvieh Breeding Programme, to be administered and run by the British Simmental Cattle Society. This in effect gives the Society the ability to develop a stand-alone pedigree Fleckvieh herd book. We can see the increasing popularity of Fleckvieh as a dairy animal and have had considerable interest already from dairy producers. The development of an approved herd book for Fleckvieh cattle has been a long-term objective of the Society and we are delighted to have received this approval. It is an opportunity for related diversification for the Society and from here there is a lot of work ahead but considerable opportunity.

I’ve highlighted previously that I believe there is a ‘greener future’ with the Simmental breed that is resonating with the needs of the forward industry and gaining commercial recognition. The highest quality suckler cows; full of milk; fertile; easy calving; and can calve at two years old. The UK’s number one continental beef breed for age at slaughter, fast growing Simmental sired progeny with terrific weight for age, hitting industry specs and producing quality carcases with a high retail beef yield. These are the natural attributes and efficiencies of the modern British Simmental that can forge a profitable commercial future in an industry with a higher cost base. Agriculture has to meet the challenges ahead and reducing the carbon footprint of beef production will gain reward. To this end I’ve been very interested by some recent research indicating that young bull beef systems have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per kg of beef carcase by over 30% when compared to steer beef. This I feel is something that the collective industry of producers, processors and retailers will take sight of given the huge emission reductions possible, and with little discernible difference in quality between steer and young bull beef. We know that the Simmental breed with its age at slaughter, growth, weight for age, and consistency of carcase conformation is very well placed to be a leader in hitting these forward industry requirements.

From a personal point of view this is my second Review message as I pass halfway in my term of Society Presidency. I’m thoroughly enjoying the challenge and the support, help and encouragement from members is greatly appreciated. Similarly I’d like to thank all Council members in the period, and also Iain and the staff team at Stoneleigh, for their enthusiasm, focus, and selfless hard work through the year. It is very much a collective effort, the Simmental team in all its parts, to keep working hard in a challenging industry, to take this great breed forward. Here’s hoping we can have a full calendar of activities in 2022 and I look forward to seeing and meeting as many of you as possible at the Simmental sales, shows, and events in the year.

I hope that you enjoy this year’s edition of the British Simmental Cattle Society Review.

With kind regards

Stewart Stronach