justintime
Well-known member
There are some very good cattle in every breed. I guess I was a bit disappointed with the Simmental in Denver. Maybe I was expecting too much, I don't know, but I felt there were too many females that I had to look twice to see if I was looking at a bull or female.I guess if they are retaining high fertility and other reproductive traits, it is not as big a deal, but I was suggest that caution be used in their quest to add thickness and volume at all cost. This can be done and still have the males masculine, and the females feminine, but it may take a little longer to get cattle like this in large numbers. I will give Simmental breeders credit for changing a breed almost completely in a few short years. The Simmental breed is a completely different breed than it was even 10 - 15 years ago. Here where I live they are extremely popular, but in the past year, they have seemed to reached a place where they have to be really good to sell for high dollars. This can only be good for a breed, as one of the worst things that can happen to any breed, in regards to improving the overall quality in the breed, is to have too good of times.
For example, the Charolais breed experienced this exact thing for many years in Canada in particular. When I started our Charolais herd, very few bulls were ever castrated, as you could sell each and every male calf for breeding purposes regardless of their quality. For several years, there was no nature incentive to seek breed improvement. After several years of Charolais dominance in commercial bull sales, the industry started to move back to the British breeds, and it became much harder to sell ordinary Charolais cattle. The real breeders made the necessary changes and breed improvement increased at a very dramatic rate. Here in Canada, I think the Charolais breed may be almost ready to have another run at increasing popularity. I think many cattle producers are starting to really understand that British X Continental cross cattle really work well in our markets and our environment. For this reason, I think the Simmental will continue to have popularity for a few more years, and Charolais will see increasing popularity again. The British breeds will continue to be popular but quality will become more and more important, and we will see a larger percentage of lower quality bulls and females not selling in sales. This really isn't bad news as it should lead to breed improvement at a faster pace again.
For example, the Charolais breed experienced this exact thing for many years in Canada in particular. When I started our Charolais herd, very few bulls were ever castrated, as you could sell each and every male calf for breeding purposes regardless of their quality. For several years, there was no nature incentive to seek breed improvement. After several years of Charolais dominance in commercial bull sales, the industry started to move back to the British breeds, and it became much harder to sell ordinary Charolais cattle. The real breeders made the necessary changes and breed improvement increased at a very dramatic rate. Here in Canada, I think the Charolais breed may be almost ready to have another run at increasing popularity. I think many cattle producers are starting to really understand that British X Continental cross cattle really work well in our markets and our environment. For this reason, I think the Simmental will continue to have popularity for a few more years, and Charolais will see increasing popularity again. The British breeds will continue to be popular but quality will become more and more important, and we will see a larger percentage of lower quality bulls and females not selling in sales. This really isn't bad news as it should lead to breed improvement at a faster pace again.
