Why I Chose to Raise a Simbrah By: Josh Rich The reason I picked the Simbrah breed. First I was raised around cattle. Second my older brother was a chapter president and a Rice Belt district historian and also participated in the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo and participated in the 2008 calf scramble and succeeded.

I’m finished with my first year in high school and just became my chapter sentinel and moving on to my sophomore year. Now, enough said about my life, let’s talk cattle! I have always raised American breed show cattle.My dad and my brother and I have raised Simbrah cattle ever since my brother caught in Houston 2008 … really, ever since my brother, we’ve just fell in love with this breed of cattle. So, one of the reasons I picked this breed is just following in the steps of my father and older brother- a family tradition.

The other main reason that I picked this breed, is that when I’m done showing her I can use her with my bull and turn her out into my pasture, for breeding stock. I also plan to have her breed for Houston when I come back to show in the calf scramble show and Jr. ive stock show. Just another reason why I like this breed is the fact that the Simbrah breed is a cross between a Simmental and Brahman, which is an American breed of cattle.

These are two other breeds that I also have much respect for. Now the Simbrah breed is no longer known as a cross breed but is now known as a pure breed. And of course, another reason I chose this breed… the girls that raise Simbrah heifers are fun to be around, and others like Simbrahs because of their colors.The thing about Simbrah cattle is that they are Brahman influenced. This means they are high heat tolerance cattle, and are originally developed in the hot humid areas of the Gulf Coast. If you haven’t realized we live on the gulf coast.

I live in Vidor Texas so I know what it’s all about humid and hot. The only bad thing about the Brahman influence is that they tend to be a bit hot headed or “high headed” if you will call it. Now I’m going to tell you about the Simmental side of the breed.The Simmental gives the hair to them, which gives them a show advantage. Then the other benefit to the hair allows them to survive in vary cold temperatures. For example they can live in 115 degrees farinhight in summer time (which is the Brahman side) and then -25 degrees farinhight in the winter which is the Simmental side of the breed.

The Simbrah breed was originated by a few determined cattlemen along the south east coast (Gulf Coast). The Simbrah breed is now known as “The all purpose American breed.   Another reason cattleman like the breed is the long production life span of Simbrah cattle. The average life span of Simbrah cattle is 10 years if in reproductive system as if in a free rang. The feed lot industry is seeing a high benefit to the Simbrah breed, they can feed them shorter amounts of time because of their rapid growth.

Well now you know a little about me and my experience in finding and selecting a Simbrah as the breed for my calf scramble experience. It has been a great experience for me and I am looking forward to my future in Agriculture.