| 51 MEAT & WOOL » Hill Valley Simmentals His initial explanation for his liking for Simmental is succinct. “Meat and muscle and the colour of them.” “I’ve always liked the Simmental cattle and we’ve used Dave’s bull before and had a bit of a passion for doing something else; I just like the cattle really.” “They started out with a Hereford base when he gave us the run of the farm and we put an Angus bull to them, and we would get the hybrid vigour from that cross. Then we would keep the black with the white faced calves and put a Simmental bull over them and we’ve carried that on.” Offspring are usually carried over just one winter and crossing the Hereford’s with Simmental is akin to turbocharging their growth rate, Jimmy says. Because some of the stud’s Simmentals have horns, he is going for homozygous polled genetics in both the sire and dam. “At this stage I’m looking for docility, homozygous polled and growth rate.” Simmental cows are good milkers with good maternal traits, but those that aren’t are selectively culled. “I breed what I love and am passionate about and I’m sure prospective buyers will see this and Dave Keown’s passion reflected in the quality of the bulls that will be on offer this May and June.” “Dave Keown had a really good bull in his system which was a leading bull in the 200 day weight.” Jimmy has also sourced genetics from Kerrah Simmentals, Gisborne and Glenside Simmentals, South Otago. Contact: JamesHill 027 7140160
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