SIMMENTAL SURGE IN DEMAND IMMINENT
After just over 50 years in New Zealand, Simmental breeders are poised for another surge in demand for sires that produce faster finishing cattle and heavier carcass weights than traditional breeds.
Simmental cattle quickly earned a reputation for rapid growth rates soon after arriving here in a wave of exotic breed imports, helping to cement its place as the third largest breed in the country behind the Angus and Hereford breeds. Simmental NZ Councillors Tom Sanson (Gold Creek Simmental) and Daniel Absolom (Rissington Cattle) believe the breed is in a prime position to capitalise on its proven ability to sire fast-growing cattle at heavier carcass weights before the second winter. They are buoyed by the results coming in the past eight years from the Informing NZ Beef Progeny Tests which show a reliable, large advantage in growth rate and carcass weights for progeny born to Simmental sires.
Continue reading here.
