Symental Cattle

History of the Hungarian Simental

The Hungarian Simental was developed by substitution crossing breeding between the Hungarian Grey, a predominant breed in the nineteenth century, and the breed Simental. In addition, other breeds and local varieties e.g. the Borzderes, the Dutch Belted, also contributed to evolving this breed. It took a few decades to complete the breed conversion process which has been finalised essentially in the recent decades only. The rationale behind the intention to perform this substitution crossing resulting in the development of the Hungarian Simental breed, was primarily the failure of the indigenous breed to fulfill the increasing demands both in terms of milk production and beef production. Furthermore, the importance of pulling power in cattle breeding gradually diminished.

The outstanding versatility of the Hungarian Simental yielded some world record milk producer individuals during the period between the world wars. However, crosses were initiated already in the 1950s because milk production of the Hungarian Simental was not sufficiently economical and was not adaptive enough to intense dairy industry production. Beginning in 1952, these crosses included, among others, those with the Kosztromai, the Borzderes and with the Red Dane. The stocks produced in these crosses were as well suitable for industrialised milk production to a limited extent only, therefore they were usually further crossed with more recent breeds.

The Hungarian simentals milk production, its adaptability to mechanical milking, and the structure of the feet, as well as its technological tolerance and etological traits are either not satisfactory or do not fit in the conditions dairy industry has generated. Since this breed has an intermediate milk production (3500-3800 kg milk with about 4% butterfat) and excellent beef production, it is a typical dual purpose breed used in Hungary. The average weight of cows is 600-700 kg. It is a mid-early maturing breed. Heifers can be brought into breeding when reaching a weight of 380-420 kg at an age of 16-20 months. In addition, it is a highly versatile breed. This stems partly from the selection strategy applied during its development which has always been aimed at the multiple use.

External traits of the Hungarian Simental:

During the development of the Hungarian Simental, the aim was to obtain a breed as similar to the Simental as possible. However, many representatives of the Hungarian Simental display larger white areas on the skin with more predominant sharp edged patches and shadowy appearance. Grey and black pigments are more frequently found in the skin, horn or hair. In general, in comparison to the breed Simental, the Hungarian Simentals skeleton is tenderer, muscles are more limited, the hindquarters is narrower, its growth rate is slightly lower, its beef production capability is approximately the same.

Exploitation of the Hungarian Simental:

The Hungarian Simental is a dual purpose breed, since its body structure and the internal traits of economic importance exhibit intermediate levels between those of the typical dairy breeds and beef cattle breeds. Its versatility and excellent adaptability provide a solid basis for crossing programs of any aim. It could also be considered to carry on straight breeding of this cattle while maintaining the dual purpose feature. Since the 70s a new form use of the breed has emerged. It has been started to contribute to make up beef cattle herds due to its excellent beef production attributable primarily to traits like growth rate, carcass structure and carcass quality. Currently the breed constitutes 40% of the beef cattle herds, but its genetic background is present to a varying extent in 90% of the entire beef cattle stock. It could also be considered to use in utility crosses as herd sires. However, it is also the high variability of the breed that causes many difficulties during management under conditions of industrialised production. On the other hand its versatility and excellent adaptability provide a solid basis for crossing programs of any specialization.