Simmental Does the Job

Comet beef producer Dean Armstrong is a big fan of the Simmental breed.

He uses Simmental bulls on his 45,505-hectare property on the banks of the Comet River in Queensland’s central highlands region, where he crosses them over Charolais and Santa Gertrudis cows.

“The Simmental does a great job for us,” Dean said.

“The give us good females to breed with, and the temperament in the bulls is great.

“We produce a cross-bred article because I think hybrid vigour is the easiest way to make money out of grass.

“I’m a firm believer that anything that has the right constitution, regardless of the breed, is the right one to use, and the Simmental has been consistent.

“We are well and truly hitting the mark with respect to weight gains.”

Dean targets the Jap Ox market, turning off up to 4500 steers around 650kg live weight, a year.

He runs a breeding and fattening operation with a breeder herd of 3000 head, and also buys in cattle when needed.

The operation has benefited greatly from some solid seasons, with a good feed bank helping maximise the Simmental’s ability to gain weight.

Dean has been using Simmentals for the past six years and has been a regular buyer at the annual Queensland Simmental Bull Sale where he looks for muscle, confirmation and good heads in the bulls he purchases.

“We are pretty well assured of getting good quality bulls and a number of them every year at the Queensland Simmental Bull Sale,” Dean said.

“The variety is great and there is plenty to choose from.”