Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Raising proven stud animals
In this article, a Simmentaler stud owner from KwaZulu-Natal described how he raised his award-winning animals.
High on the list of priorities of Simmentaler stud breeder Geoffrey Taylor is not only producing cattle that have proven hardiness, but also providing buyers with after-sales service and continued interest in the cattle.
This is part of Taylor’s policy on Garrisford Simmentalers stud near Coleford Nature Reserve in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands between Bulwer and Swartberg. He says that, whenever possible, he visits the buyers of all the stud bulls or females. This is not only to satisfy himself that the animals have settled down well, but that they are proving satisfactory to their owners.
If a bull does not prove satisfactory, he will replace it with another. He stresses that the follow-up operation also allows him to see the conditions under which his cattle are producing satisfactorily.
Garrisford Simmentalers, according to the Simmentaler Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa, is one of the largest performance tested Simmentaler studs in the country.
It was one of three recipients of the Voermol Simdex awards for the year 1993–1994. These awards are for breeding efficiency in the small, medium and large Simmentaler stud herd categories.
The index is based on the intercalving period and age of cow, and discriminates against cows that calve late. Garrisford had a Simdex of 99 for 209 cows that had calved more than once.
The founder of the herd is Cedric Taylor, who has been farming 1 000ha of highland sourveld on the farm Otterburn since 1948 with his wife Cynthia. He established Garrisford in May 1965 when he bought Simmentaler females from Namibia.
Shortly afterwards, he imported several more females from Germany. The aim of the stud has always been to supply commercial breeders with bulls that would inject hybrid vigour, ample milk, fast growth rates and fertility into their herds.
Cedric, who has over the past 25 years made a name for himself as an experienced stockman, still helps his son Geoffrey with the herd, despite having retired from farming.
Says Taylor: “The importance of performance testing has always been recognised. It has been in practice since the stud’s inception.” He adds that to make the performance data as relevant as possible, the commercial herd of Simmentalers on Otterburn was phased out by 1974 and the stud herd increased to about 300 females.
“With strict and effective selection pressure, this has enabled the development of a functionally efficient herd,” says Taylor. Garrisford comprises 280 registered Simmentaler females, but Taylor decided to reduce the herd, culling the bottom 25%.
He felt that he needed reliable cash flow on the farm, which dairying would provide. So, he built a modern dairy parlour complex and, at the time of Farmer’s Weekly’s visit, was milking 125 Holstein-Friesians.
He intends to increase the number of milkers later. Some of the higher producing, dual-purpose Simmentaler cows provide milk not only for their own calves, but also for the Holstein calves.
FERTILITY = PROFITABILITY
By reducing the stud size, Taylor believes he will have a sufficient number of Simmentaler breeding cows to allow for meaningful selection to take place. When it comes to profitability, “fertility is the bottom line”.
Artificial insemination (AI) has been used on a large scale since the late 1960s. Taylor estimates that AI is used on between 70% and 80% of the cow herd. Occasionally, semen from proven German sires is imported and used with that of South African AI bulls selected by the breed society.
The herd is artificially inseminated over three months every year, starting on 1 November. The average conception rate is about 85%, but during two years of severe drought, it was 78%.
Apart from the cow herd, two other female herds are run: in-calf heifers and first-calf heifers.
A system has evolved in which mature stock run on a low-quality feeding regime, while the younger stock are given better feed as required.
Heifers are mated at about 15 months old or 330kg. Heifer weaners are wintered on ryegrass pasture before being mated on ryegrass in spring, provided they have reached the target mass. During summer, the cow herd is on veld, while heifers are on kikuyu pastures. In winter, the herd goes on to maize stalks and Eragrostis hay. First-time calvers get Eragrostis hay and maize silage during winter.
This article first appeared in the 26 August 1994 issue of Farmer’s Weekly and has been edited to adhere to the current style of the magazine.