Simmental cattle are a versatile breed of cattle originating in the valley of the Simme river, in the Bernese Oberland of western Switzerland.
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Among the older and most widely distributed of all breeds of cattle in the world, and recorded since the Middle Ages, the Simmental breed has contributed to the creation of several other famous European breeds including the Montbeliarde (France), the Razzeta d'Oropa (Italy), and the Fleckvieh (Germany).
There are reports from a variety of sources indicating that Simmental cattle arrived in the United States before the turn of the 20th century. Simmental were reported as early as 1887 in Illinois, according to one source; in 1895 in New Jersey; and in both New York and New Mexico around the 1916 to 1920 period. An advert in an 1896 issue of the Breeder's Gazette, published in Chicago, also made reference to "Simmenthal" cattle. However, those early imports did not capture the attention of American cattlemen and the Simmental influence died quietly away until the late 1960s.
The breed made its most recent appearance in North America when a Canadian, named Travers Smith, imported the famed bull "Parisien" from France in 1967. Semen was introduced into the United States that same year, with the first half-blood Simmental calf born in February 1968. The American Simmental Association was formed in October 1968.
The American Simmental Association registers about 80,000 cattle annually into the Simmental and Simbrah herdbooks. The association ranks among the top four of the U.S. beef breed associations in annual registrations.
Namibia (1893) and South Africa (1905) were the first countries outside Europe where the breed was successfully established. Here the breed is known as Simmentaler and is mainly used for used for beef cattle production under suckler cow systems. Today the breeders‘ society is, as far as animal numbers are concerned, the fourth largest of the 32 non dairy breeds in Southern Africa. The main reason for its popularity is (i) that it can be used with great success in cross breeding for breeding of both cows with much milk and heavy weaners/oxen; (ii) a large number of performance tested bulls; (iii) comprehensive advice and other breed improvement services to its breeders and iv) animals that do not pass stringent inspection by breed experts, are permanently eliminated from the herdbook.[1]
The Simmental has historically been used for dairy, beef and as draught animals. They are particularly renowned for the rapid growth of their young, if given sufficient feed. Simmental provide more combined weaning gain (growth) and milk yield than any other breed.[2]
The traditional colouration of the Simmental has been described variously as "red and white spotted" or "gold and white", although there is no specific standard colouration, and the dominant shade varies from a pale yellow-gold all the way to very dark red (the latter being particularly popular in the United States). The face is normally white, and this characteristic is usually passed to cross-bred calves. The white face is genetically distinct from the white head of the Hereford.
Today approximately 80% of the Simmental cattle in the United States are black, with the remaining 20% being red. Most Simmental cattle are solid in coloring. In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was a large push to rid Simmental cattle of the spots and diluter genes. Because of this push a large number of traditionally colored Simmental cows were bred to purebred Angus bulls. Over the next decade progressive breeders worked to breed their Simmental Angus cross cattle back up to a 7/8 blooded Simmental, also known as a purebred. Today it is common for Simmental cattle in North America to be both Homozygous Polled and Homozygous Black.
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