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REDUCTION SALE RESULTS:
November 19th, 2006

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Pictures and website - The primary purpose of my website is to portray the quality of the animals in my herd and explain my concepts in cattle breeding. I have tried to use pictures to illustrate these concepts. Except for the show pictures, the cattle are shown in their home environment in their working condition. I strongly believe in the Fullblood Simmental as the animal required to continue to improve the beef industry in Canada . It is the challenge for the breeder to develop the genetic combination that is suitable to his environment and adaptable to others. This is what I attempted to show with my website.

Silk purse out of a sow's ear – This is an expression my Grandmother always would use in reference to genetics. And she was so right. But this is what a lot of cattlemen try to do – and sometimes they succeed - the first generation. But what happens after that? That is what is happening in the Simmental industry at the moment. Too many are trying to make silk purses. But the genetics are not there to support it and the sow's ear comes through. This perhaps can be beneficial to the commercial cow-calf man who is looking for that hybrid vigour, but for a breeder the results can be devastating. The grain bucket can hide a lot of defects. It requires years of cattle breeding, knowledge of genetic backgrounds and a keen eye to become a genetic engineer. But then the true genetic engineer- Mother Nature - can still throw you for a loop.

Size and seeing daylight – I learned a lot about cattle and farming from the original owner of my farm some 39 years ago. I think he felt sorry for me or was impressed with me, I really don't know which, when he saw me fixing fences with all the fencing material stored in my shiny black 240SE Mercedes. He was around 70 years of age at that time and had been very successful and was the envy of the neighbourhood because a lot of his wealth came from the depression era. The majority of the cattle in the late 60's were butterballs- short, round and fully packed. His words of wisdom were, “ If you want to make money from cattle, you have to see daylight under them”. The exotic, and in particular the Simmentals, brought the daylight. The hype and the popularity of the Simmental, especially in the show circuit took the breed to extremes. But today the Fullblood Simmentals have become more realistic in terms of the reason they were imported to Canada in the first place. Size and bone and muscle together are necessary to produce an economical animal for our market. To achieve the right combination from a stable genetic gene pool is the secret. I find it interesting that size doesn't seem to be as much of an issue in some of the other breeds.

Big-breasted chickens – One of the recent genetic engineering stories to have appeared in the paper is about the chicken industry trying to develop chickens to produce a bigger breast for the more valuable and possibly healthier white breast meat. But to their surprise the roosters from this engineering manipulation have become too aggressive in their courtships and in a lot of cases end up killing the brood hens. They claim the roosters have lost the romance gene. This can be corrected without too much difficulty in the chicken industry, because of the population turnover within a year. But in the cattle industry, even with transplanting, etc., to make a correction takes years and in the meantime a lot of economical genetics could have gone by the wayside. Is this what is happening in the Simmental industry? Are we now following that SINGLE TRAIT selection process only to lose another more valuable one, say fertility?

Prove those bulls with those good cows – No one questions the strength of the Simmental brood cow and so many times within the industry, the highly promoted bulls are only proven because they are used on the best cows in the industry. Where then does the genetic strength really lie? Hopefully the offsprings do prove to be superior. But we have all experienced the one and only situation – one hell of a calf the first generation but the other generations regulated to the butcher pen, or at least should have been. I have eaten a few of my own butcher pen candidates. I used the experience to learn about muscle patterns, cutability, etc., plus I enjoyed the pleasure of eating a good tasty tender natural beef product. We all know education is expensive. So at least some good can come from bad. However, with the known genetic traits of a Fullblood animal, some analysis of source can be made, so as not to make the same mistake twice. The proof is in the pudding.

Versatility and Consistency and the ever changing market demands - How many times have I been asked by individuals within the industry, “What should I do? Which way should I go?” It is a fact that not only does the heavy-handed meat packer have us by the tail but many breeders as well. Too many breeders are breeding with unknowns. The consistency within the Fullbloods, good or bad –i.e. poor feet and legs, can allow a breeder to be more confident with his selection criteria to strengthen or to avoid. If the bloodline is consistent for the traits that the market always demands – performance, calving ease, easy maintenance, etc, then the genetics of the day can be used to get the moneymakers. Everything else remains constant. Such is the versatility of an established bloodline.

Colour – It is a known fact that Simmentals are not colour true. In fact, Fleckvieh – the German and Austrian Simmental- means spotted cattle and when you travel throughout Germany and Austria , you can't help but notice that the spotted cattle far outnumber the solid coloured animals. What was the selection process here? I would assume genetics! But I can't help but notice that it didn't take the Austrians and the Germans long to find the solid coloured animals to export to the Americas . How strong is the genetic strength here then? Is it all a matter of marketing? But it is interesting that Simmental cow-calf men that finish their own cattle are not concerned about colour. There is more to an efficient product than the colour of the hide. Also, colour could turn into a single trait selection process. Has something already been lost? Is this the reason for the need for reverse upgrading?

Ease of Maintenance – Too often we hear the criticism that Simmentals eat too much or an animal is described as having to have a bucket of grain tied around its' neck. But how often have you heard an animal described as gaining weight by just looking at grain. That's how I want my animals described and that's how they have been described. That “ease of maintenance” description is the moneymaking component of the bloodline. There may be times more feed is required due to environmental conditions but as long as the animals perform, the cost-effect balance is there.

Calving ease- This is a major concern that exists in the cattle industry as a whole, not only in the Simmentals. Is it the bull, or the cow? Do big calves cause calving problems? Not necessarily. I can remember my Bismarck cowherd from my beginning years as a Simmental breeder calving out 120lb calves with no assistance. The calves were big, the cows were big and the bulls used were big. But the calves had the right profile for being born and the cows were in the condition for calving, not too fat and properly exercised. However, most of the bulls from this group could not be used on the existing commercial cowherds of the time, because the cows were too small and calving problems were numerous. But did we ever get pounds of meat for our buck! In this respect nothing has changed. Recently, I bought semen from a bull who is supposed to be hard calving according to the statistics. I used him on heifers - no major calving problems. Are we breeding for small calves or calving ease with vigour? I am pleased that the CSA has recommended a rating for vigour on newborn calves, a rating which should have been a criteria for any seedstock breeder. There are so many scenarios that can be described for calving problems that it is no surprise that it is the bane of the cow-calf man. As far as I am concerned the answer lies in proper nutrition and physical condition of the cow, including pelvic opening and sufficient size, and a bull that exhibits the correct physical conformation required for calving ease as the criteria with which to begin. Anything else is a matter of a preference trait and risk the breeder wants to assume.

EPD's – I don't know where to begin here because I really don't understand what is going on now. They were significant at one time to me, but now I don't know how the data is evaluated. However, I still submit all my weights, from births to yearling. It does trouble me that Simmental breeding stock are sold without weaning and yearling weights. Maybe you can explain it all to me.

Good animals are good animals, no matter what breed or colour - And these I respect and admire. But my passion is the Canadian Fullblood Simmental and I would hope that they be respected for the quality they are, for what they have achieved and for what they can contribute to the industry, whether Fullblood or Purebred.

Erich Kern

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