Travers was not afraid to seek advice from others. He believed that listening to others’ ideas, expertise, and vision could “irrigate” the SBL idea and so, from day one, he sought to cultivate and irrigate every aspect of Simmental.
Don Jensen said:
Travers never went at anything half-heartedly. When things started to expand and really roll here in Canada, he knew he had the tool and he wanted to find out how to use it. He went to men like Lavon Sumption, Dr. Wiltbank and Bill Pickett down in Fort Collins for their help in designing a breeding program to find out the top genetic traits in the bull battery. In addition to this work, Dr. Wiltbank was a specialist in reproduction and he set up estrus synchronization experiments and worked with induced calving. (SC:Aug1987:44)Travers came to the Simmental idea already intrigued by the potential for crossbreeding, AI, and progeny testing—long before these were considered acceptable tools. Thus Travers was uniquely prepared to help spread the idea that “You can’t raise modern cattle with Model T methods.” (Ref: Ted Pritchett, SSh:March1974:12)
And strangely, with all their European antiquity, Simmental would become the most modern of cattle for it was their introduction to North America, more than any other breed, that blew down the barriers against every one of these modern innovations. Simmental was truly a revolution that impacted the entire cattle industry in North America.
Ted Pritchett wrote:
It all began with a dream and a dreamer. While the cattle industry lost Travers Smith, with his untimely passing in 1974, he lived to see his dream come true. He lived to see his idea, developed way back in 1965-66, grow, develop, and change the beef industry. Simmental was the first of the new breeds that led into the Golden days of the beef industry — reaching a peak in 1974. Those years, and the free flowing money, led to long lasting changes that, without that kind of money, would not have been possible. Embryo transplant, improvement in heat detection, and the widespread use of AI, became everyday operations. The widespread awareness of ROP and record keeping were all a part of this period, and became long lasting by-products of those years. (BTY’77:87)Travers’ openness seems to have been a trait shared by many who became believers in Simmental. Travers was always impressed with the quality of people drawn to the Simmental dream and he would have been immensely gratified to have read the comments of Rodney James (former Secretary of the Canadian Charolais Association; former Editor and Publisher of the Canadian Charolais Banner; and Sales Manager of Transcon Livestock), when he wrote:
The incredible advancement of the [Simmental] breed over the past twenty years in my view is only partly due to the cattle. I still believe as I did in 1971 that this breed attracted and still does, some of the best people there are out there. Simmental breeders have traditionally invited competition and most importantly enjoyed other breeders’ successes. …. (SC:Aug1987:24)
