With 110,000 registrations, the American Simmental Association (ASA) is a force to be reckoned with! About 50% of those are purebreds (that's 7/8ths and up), and the other half are composites (that's 50% or more Simmental). Then there are what we would call 'pure' Simmentals, the fullbloods - which account for less than 1%.
But the American Simmental is a very relevant cow. It seems to me that the Angus is a good cow for America, but the steer is the undisputed king of the feedlot. They have the branding ....and the marbling to back it up, and just suit the feedlot system. But while the Angus breed has been courting the feedlot, the Simmental cow has come in and picked up the crown of the range ....or at least a share of it. USDA MARC data shows that Angus mature weights have risen in tandem with carcase weights, but Simmentals have reduced, the Simmental now has a mature weight 15% smaller than Angus, and is even a smaller cow to keep than Hereford.
Wade Schaffer says this change was driven by EPDs - the American Simmental now has better growth than they did when they had the taller cattle of the '80s. The ASA has used an All Purpose Index (API), for 10 years. It is an economic index balanced between cow/calf producer, feedlot and packer, so yield, quality grade and growth come in to it, as does feed intake. For the cow/calf man, survivability x wean weight is the output from which you subtract cowherd intake (which is mature size and milk). Stayability (the probability of daughters staying in the herd) trumps all, however.
There was a low growth bull not used much before API - but he was off-the-chart in all other traits - top of the class for calving ease, birthweight, milk, carcase yield, marbling and shear-force (tenderness). Now, in the API era, he is a world renowned sire - his name, Hooks Shear Force. Are his genetics available in the UK? Sure - he's been used a lot in the Stabiliser!
Intake - Milk and Mature Weight, weights, and body composition, accounts for 80% of intake, without the need to measure it. That can be used to balance an index. The Simmental Carcase Merit Program uses 40 - 50 breeder-nominated young bulls by AI across commercial herds, 6-700 progeny are then fed with carcase data used to increase accuracy of EPDs. These cattle have recently been fed through a Growsafe system to measure input data too.
How does a breed association keep itself relevant?
A database of 50,000 commercial cattlemen receiving 5 publications a year filled with useful, informative articles and potentially an advert for your bull sale; and a world-leading recording system backed up with commercial progeny tests - that's how!
But the American Simmental is a very relevant cow. It seems to me that the Angus is a good cow for America, but the steer is the undisputed king of the feedlot. They have the branding ....and the marbling to back it up, and just suit the feedlot system. But while the Angus breed has been courting the feedlot, the Simmental cow has come in and picked up the crown of the range ....or at least a share of it. USDA MARC data shows that Angus mature weights have risen in tandem with carcase weights, but Simmentals have reduced, the Simmental now has a mature weight 15% smaller than Angus, and is even a smaller cow to keep than Hereford.
Wade Schaffer says this change was driven by EPDs - the American Simmental now has better growth than they did when they had the taller cattle of the '80s. The ASA has used an All Purpose Index (API), for 10 years. It is an economic index balanced between cow/calf producer, feedlot and packer, so yield, quality grade and growth come in to it, as does feed intake. For the cow/calf man, survivability x wean weight is the output from which you subtract cowherd intake (which is mature size and milk). Stayability (the probability of daughters staying in the herd) trumps all, however.
There was a low growth bull not used much before API - but he was off-the-chart in all other traits - top of the class for calving ease, birthweight, milk, carcase yield, marbling and shear-force (tenderness). Now, in the API era, he is a world renowned sire - his name, Hooks Shear Force. Are his genetics available in the UK? Sure - he's been used a lot in the Stabiliser!
Intake - Milk and Mature Weight, weights, and body composition, accounts for 80% of intake, without the need to measure it. That can be used to balance an index. The Simmental Carcase Merit Program uses 40 - 50 breeder-nominated young bulls by AI across commercial herds, 6-700 progeny are then fed with carcase data used to increase accuracy of EPDs. These cattle have recently been fed through a Growsafe system to measure input data too.
How does a breed association keep itself relevant?
A database of 50,000 commercial cattlemen receiving 5 publications a year filled with useful, informative articles and potentially an advert for your bull sale; and a world-leading recording system backed up with commercial progeny tests - that's how!