GROWING demand for a female classification system for pedigree Simmentals, will see up to 10% of the bulls forward for this month's breed show and sale at UA Stirling, with classification results in their pedigree.

The voluntary scheme which was introduced last autumn due to "a serious demand," from breeders and buyers a like, is open to all breeders and is based on a similar classification system used for pedigree dairy cattle.

Breeders participating will also benefit from an individual assessor from an independent party – Holstein UK and Ireland (HUKI) – which will classify the females in four separate areas. These include body conformation; beef character; feet and legs and mammary system, but, they will only be assessed when they are in milk and feeding a calf. Each category also has several components within it which are individually judged to give a final score for that animal.

Notably, first calved heifers cannot get the highest possible score, and a cow must have a minimum of three calves before she can be classified excellent (Ex).

The system does nevertheless come at a cost from HUKI, but long-term will be of benefit to the breed, breeders and potential buyers, according to Neil Shand, chief executive of the British Simmental Society.

He added that one of the reasons for the introduction of the system is that EBVs for bulls sold at society sales provide a wealth of information on how the progeny will perform, without providing any details of the quality of the mother.

"In years gone by, many of the senior stockmen/women wouldn’t like to buy a bull without seeing its mother, but, with classification we get a very clear picture of what the mother looks like and all things good about her," said Mr Shand.

"We have added another tool to give more information to buyers and to help breeders be more selective in the females they keep for further breeding. The introduction of Female Classification puts the final piece of the jigsaw in place and gives prospective buyers a full picture of what they are getting and the type of cow that the bull or sale animal is out of, regarding size, feet and legs, size of udder and teat size," he said.

With females only able to assessed when they have a calf at foot, to date, only a limited number of cows have been classified. However, with the majority of breeders keen to invest in the system, Mr Shand is hopeful that by this time next year, half of the bulls forward for sale, will include female classifications in their pedigree.

Female classification information is also added to the existing Society ABRI data base and prospective purchasers can search the data base by classified herds/cattle.