Breeder’s critical view of Simmentalers

In the Free State there is a Fleckvieh stud breeder who claims there is a marked difference between his breed and German Fleckvieh. According to him, no distinction is made in South Africa between the two breeds, and both are classed as Simmentalers. His animals are out of Swiss Simmentalers. JWA (Xantie) van der Merwe of the farm Drakenstein, near Bethlehem, says he is one of the few stud breeders in South Africa who farms with purebred Fleckvieh animals out of the Simmentaler.

Van der Merwe says the most important difference between the Simmentaler Fleckhvieh and the German Fleckvieh concerns the so-called ‘pistol cut’. This is the part stretching from behind the hump along the back muscle – in other words, the eye-muscle to the hindquarters.

According to Van der Merwe, this ‘pistolcut’ part should form 60% of the carcass. He says the German Fleckvieh does not always conform to this requirement, while it is a definite feature in the Simmentaler Fleckvieh.

He explains that breeders of the German Fleckvieh in Fleckvieh in Germany and Austria apparently concentrate on a large chest in the breeding of their bulls.

As far as he is concerned this approach is wrong. He feels the economical cuts of a beef carcass come from the pistol-cut part and not the chest. The chest is used mainly for minced meat, and this is not where the money lies.

Van der Merwe says overseas breeders of purebred Simmentaler Fleckvieh concentrate on the pistol cut and this must be prominent in the male breeding animals. The width and the depth of the eye muscle and the loin are very important.

Special attention must also be given to the development of the muscles between the legs. The space taken up in a cow by the udder should, in the male animal, be occupied by beef.

IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES

Another important difference between the Simmentaler Fleckvieh and the German Fleckvieh is that the former’s hock is lower than that of its German counterpart. As a result, the muscles of a Simmentaler Fleckvieh bull run quite far down. This gives the animal an almost feline appearance, but the end result is more beef in the pistol cut. Van der Merwe says that when breeding Simmentaler Fleckvieh bulls, emphasis is therefore placed on the hindquarters without forfeiting the masculinity of the chest and neck.

He says it is important that the bull’s conformation be balanced. For example, if you cut a photograph of the bull exactly through the centre and you study the two parts separately, they must look as though they fit together.

Van der Merwe says he has personally experienced degenerative tendencies in the German Fleckvieh.

He concentrated on purebred Simmentaler Fleckviehs, while his father also had German Fleckviehs. Van der Merwe noticed, in his father’s stud, that a purebred Simmentaler Fleckvieh cow mated with a German Fleckvieh bull produced a beautiful calf one year, a straight-hocked calf the next and a better type calf the following year.

The bull used by his father was a descendant of a famous German Fleckvieh bull. The latter caused a sensation at shows and walked away with many prizes. The cow later ended up in Van der Merwe’s stud and, mated with a purebred Simmentaler Fleckvieh bull, produced a calf of uniform good quality year after year.

So far he has not noticed similar degenerative tendencies among his Simmentaler Fleckviehs. If a cow produces a good-quality first calf from a specific bull among his Simmentaler Fleckeckviehs, he is at least assured that the cow and bull will always produce the same type of calf.

Van der Merwe says years of observation has taught him that a bull with a short head in which the eyes are situated almost in the centre – in the centre when seen from the side – breeds descendants with plenty of beef. A short head is a characteristic of the Simmentaler Fleckvieh, he adds.

He warns that breeders who want a calf with a well-developed bone structure must be careful not to make the mistake of using a cow with coarse features. According to him, the cow should have a feminine and refined appearance. A wedgeshaped build is necessary, of course, with the narrow end of the wedge in the front. FW This article first appeared in the 19 April 1978 issue of Farmer’s Weekly and has been edited to adhere to the current style of the magazine.

FW ARCHIVE Mother and son – excellent examples of the Fleckvieh from the Simmentaler. These cattle are found on Xantie van der Merwe‘s farm, Drakenstein, and he draws attention to the space taken up in the female by the udder, which in the male is converted into beef.