Performance ~ Voices from the Past

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B. Travers Smith
Apr. 10, 1973

In the sidebar of this blog, one of the blog purposes—perhaps the most important—was stated to be:

“to remember “WHY” Travers and others were looking for improved genetics and performance.”

As documented in the Simmental Shield, March 1974, p. 30: “Travers contention was that judging cattle by type [or color or breed preference] instead of performance was our ruination.”

Travers was passionate in that belief. As we look around at where we have been, what we intended, and where we are today in the cattle industry, is there any need to remember the voices from the past?

In the Simmental Shield, August 1974, pp. 119-122, Don Vaniman, Exec. Sec. of the ASA wrote an extended article about his show ring observations:

“A traditional ceremony of visually appraising breeding cattle in the showring has interfered with comprehensive within-herd performance selection. The showring is promotional, but seldom breed-improving. … / Yes, the showring is a wonderful place to meet and visit with old friends. But how can it measure and select breeding cattle for the future based on one day’s parade of only visual analysis all done by one judge for all breeds of cattle? /…Showring will never be compatible with performance testing because showring leans toward short-term breeding goals with fast-turn-around. Performance testing calls for exact measurements to be taken within equal opportunity groups, then selecting for economic traits of high heritability and culling traits of low heritability.”

In January 1982, Ted Pritchett wrote an editorial (Viewpoint) in the Simmental Country magazine about his views on the showring influence. He stirred up a flurry of letters in response, e.g.:

From Frank E. Cursons of Eastend, Sask., (Feb/82., p. 132): “… Sacrificing utility for style has not in any way benefitted the class of animals subjected to this form of appraisal. / … The appearance of the early imported Simmental bulls and females and their products remain imbedded in my memory and these present day pea-pod weasels on stilts do not appear to measure up as satisfactory replacements to me at least. I am aghast at what I see. / It seems I am watching the Canadian exotic breeders offering a replay of what happened to the British cattle starting about fifty years ago. / Though it has to a degree been corrected, I fail to see why the exotics have to go through the same process. …”

From Diane Gilliland of Carievale, Sask. (March/82, p. 49): … “It[’]s really sad to see what is happening to the breed. It was so good to see someone with the clout and a goodly amount of internal fortitude finally speak out and say what we’ve been saying for four years. …”

From Gary Decock (3D Ranch) (March/82, p. 49): “… I would like to congratulate you on your remarks about the showing ring and the kind of cattle we’re raising today. / I hear you have cheesed off a few people, I think if you recall that one of the biggest reasons why we imported exotic’s in the first place was because the breeders of the old traditional b[r]eeds decided that we had to have a short dumpy, butterball type of animal, which produced a rather wasty type of carcass. Lately some people seem to think we need a tall lean extreme type of animal. … / I think more of us should be paying more attention to what goes on in the stockyard ring th[a]n the show ring and take what we’ve learned from there to the show ring. …”

In Simmental Country, October 1994, pp.83-4, Bob Gordon pondered the pros and cons as he wrote:

“Most every good commercial cattleman wants some Simmental blood in his commercial cow herd as he realizes what their influence has done in improving the productivity of his cattle in the last twenty years. / Having been involved with the Simmental breed from day one I realize very clearly what we expected the Simmental cattle to do in changing our domestic commercial cow herd in the early 70’s. We were coming out of an era when the industry had cattle too small with a number lacking performance and milk. Yes I do remember well what the Simmental sires did when spread across America on those present day commercial cows. This gave the industry some of the best commercial cows ever in those half and three quarter blood cows. / Yes, I remember the pledge that Travers Smith preached we would build the Simmental breed on as he was provoked with what had happened in our other breeds. How many people remember those pledges and did we carry them out? I spent many hours visiting with Travers when we were forming Bar Five and he gave us much helpful advice. … I remember that Travers Smith stated very clearly we would never ever show the Simmental cattle in open shows, only display them. In fact it was in the constitution we would never show these cattle. I worked hard to have these cattle shown and have this changed. May times I have asked myself since was it the right decision. Yes I am positive for shows but are they always evaluated for what is the most positive for the particular breed[?] …
“Let[’]s work together in trying to breed the best Simmentals possible to keep the breed in the lead in the future. This was the dream of Travers Smith when he had determination to talk eight people into putting up four thousand dollars to bring Parisien to Canada. We owe it to his foresight to do our best in breeding the kind of cattle he dreamed of producing, as what he started benefited so many of us over the last twenty year. … his great hopes and desires [were] to have Simmental cattle improve and change the direction of the present day cattle. I am sure he is watching over us to see what kind of job we have done to improve that cattle. Are we living up to his dreams?”

Many others in the intervening years have undoubtedly expressed their views and it seems to have made a difference. In the Simmental Country, March 2007 issue, the focus was on "Breed Improvement." Tomorrow's post (likely the last in this story of the early days) will include some quotes from that issue.

Despite some detours in focus, the Simmental advocates still seem to be as Travers found them and as Rodney James (former Secretary of the Canadian Charolais Association; former Editor and Publisher of the Canadian Charolais Banner; and Sales Manager of Transcon Livestock) described them 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. …. (Simmental Country:Aug1987:24)

Innovators ~ Travers & Friends

One of the great attributes of Travers was his openness to new ideas—almost too open some might have said, but he listened and if something made sense, with facts to back it or with potential for testing, he was all for the innovation. His interest in the conformation/linear measurements theory of Karney Redman of Montana was a prime example. (Ref: theories: SC:Sep1980:20-21,24, 28)

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)

2.05: First Impressions

(From research/ writings by SMSmith, 2000 AD)

It is interesting to note that many cattlemen were not initially impressed with Parisien. A few of these first impressions were recorded in the Simmental Country, August 1987 (reprinted from September 1980 issue) as follows:

Don Jensen laughs as he recalls, “I don’t remember the first time I saw Parisien, but I remember what I thought. The first thing that struck me was his color. On first glance, he looked like a Guernsey, but on looking at him close, you could see there was more to him. He really did look like a big slab sided ol’ calf though.” // … “Yes, I guess I was skeptical just like everybody else, until I saw those first calves. The year after the bull came in, I saw the calves and I couldn’t believe what I saw, so I went and got another fellow to see if he saw the same thing. Those calves were six inches taller, six inches longer and 100 pounds heavier than anything else and the proof was standing right there in front of you. That’s when I became a believer!” (pp. 37 & 44)

Rodney James: ... I must confess that I was not very impressed at the time with Parisien. As mentioned earlier, the Charolais breeders were importing extremely thick, muscular cattle and Parisien really didn’t fit that pattern. Believe me, there wasn’t a lot of interest in Simmental at the time. It is my understanding that a one half interest in Parisien could’ve been purchased for less than $5,000.00. (p. 24)

Wes Alm: ... After asking [a] neighbour what he thought of the new bull Parisien, I quote, he answered: “What the hell — we’ve had Black and White Holsteins for as long as I can remember. This one is red and white but he’s still a … Holstein.” (p. 50)

Doug Blair: In 1967 Travers and his Group Simmental Breeders Limited brought the bull Parisien to Canada and housed him at Prairie Breeders which was just starting at that time. I went to see Parisien in the summer of 1967 and concluded that he looked like a Guernsey bull as he was thin, narrow and not very “beef like” in my opinion. Travers and his Group however campaigned hard on the merits of the Simmental breed to introduce milk production as well as growth rate to North America. I recall that they were more successful in the USA than in Canada at the time. ... ( p. 106)

Parisien's "Maiden" Voyage

Rodney James, in his "Simmentals Legacy" account reported that

"On October 29, 1966 the Cimbria [a Clausen Steamship cattle vessel from Copenhagen, Denmark] left Brest [France] with the second importation consisting of 177 Charolais heifers, 37 Charolais bulls, PLUS PARISIEN - Number One."¹

A report in the Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Science² gives differing numbers for the 1966/67 French Charolais importation (40 bulls & 175 heifers), but regardless, Parisien's maiden voyage was as a single, red-and-white spotted-wonder amidst two hundred plus, solid-white "exotics."

More research is needed to confirm this, but a POSSIBLE picture of the Cimbria may be the one found at http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-23660-Cimbriahref=%22 ; or perhaps at http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-23660-Cimbria

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1. Quote found at p. 107, Simmental in Canada: 1967-2005 Celebrating 38 Years of Progress by Gerry Kaumeyer; Rodney James article consists of pp. 105-109.
2. Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Science, Volume 31(5); May 1967 (Notice), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494673/pdf/vetsci00006-0002.pdf

1:12: Home Work

(From Chp. 1 ~ 1966, titled "Foundation Work," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)

Upon arriving home, on Monday, August 15, Travers agenda was more than full. Many arrangements needed to be made, but the way was incredibly smoothed through the Canadian Charolais Association (CCA). That well-organized Association, at the request of the Canadian Department of Agriculture (CDA), took up the role of agent for all the Canadians importing from France. This involved arranging insurance and handling all matters of the Brest quarantine; chartering the ship from France to Grosse-Île; from Grosse-Île to Quebec City; and the transport thereafter by train to the West. Thus Parisien came under the well-organized, experienced Charolais umbrella, moving like clock-work from one stage of testing and quarantine to the next.

The CCA labors left Travers free to concentrate on other urgent matters.

(Below are two of several letters that Travers received from the CCA in making the many arrangements. The second letter is undated, but was probabaly written in mid- to late September 1966.)

1.01: Laying the Foundation ~ The Charolais Advocates

(From Chp. 1 ~ 1966, titled "Foundation Work," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)

"The history of all European breeds in North America is irrevocably linked to Charolais because the original decision to allow the import of this breed from France to Canada opened the possibility for every other breed in the years that followed."¹

Wayne Malmberg (1906-1978) was a southern Alberta cattle rancher who was driven to challenge the commercial status quo of "blocky, compact, fat-producing" cattle. In Malmberg's view, rate of gain and lean meat/fat ratio should be re-evaluated in order to produce better cattle and better profits—the same ideas that would later capture Travers Smith, another southern Alberta rancher, 10 years Malmberg's junior. In his quest for “growthier, vigorous” cattle, Malmberg imported the first Charolais bull (C 15) into Canada from the U.S. in April 1954.² His search soon led him also to the Charolais cattle of France and to becoming a prime mover and pioneer in pushing to open Canada to European importations. Malmberg and his Charolais associates lobbied for several years, but it was not until 1962 or 1963 that direct importation from France was seriously acted upon.

From the Charolais breeders' point-of-view the import decision by the Canadian Department of Agriculture (CDA) had been long in coming. They had been operating from a purebred base using Charolais cattle imported from Mexico and the U.S. for about 11 years, but now they had hope of new seed stock from France, the native home of Charolais.

In prior years the Canadian government's answer to repeated requests had been to stress the impossibility of direct European importation because of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease that seemed part and parcel of the European cattle industry at that time.

For many years in Europe, eradication of foot-and-mouth disease was unsuccessful so the focus became control through vaccination. Such was unacceptable to Canadian authorities. The CDA's memory was still fresh with the enormous losses suffered in a 1952 foot-and-mouth outbreak in Saskatchewan. The International Export embargo against Canada at that time had been swift and costly. It was not something the CDA intended to suffer again. Canada would remain free of foot-and-mouth disease at all costs, thus the desire to find exciting new, genetic material was not considered worth the risk of importing a debilitating disease.

But the CDA was also cognizant of the frustrated "back-door" approach that some Charolais breeders were considering to get new breeding stock into Canada. By transporting French Charolais cattle to the French island of St. Pierre, just south of Newfoundland, breeders hoped to somehow get the offspring of these "transports" into Canada legally. At the time, this strategy seemed the most feasible way to approach the Canadian prohibition against direct importation.³

Dr. Ken Wells, Veterinary Director General of the Health of Animals Branch of the CDA, spoke of Canada's import decision to Ted Pritchett of the Simmental Country magazine, August 1987:

"It all began in 1962 when we attended a meeting of the Charolais Association at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. They were pushing for direct imports from France and Alvin Hamilton, who was the Minister of Agriculture at the time, agreed in principle to look into the feasibility of establishing a Maximum Quarantine Facility for that purpose. I was directed to investigate what we needed in the way of tests and health programs and facilities." (p. 51)

Rodney James, "a mover-and-shaker" in the Canadian Charolais Association, recalled that it was during a 1963 visit to France, that The Honorable Harry Hays, Minister of the CDA gave directive to Dr. Ken Wells, Veterinary Director General of Canada, to find a way to open up European importation.

In any event, with the Minister's new directive to Dr. Wells, the Canadian government's focus suddenly shifted to the possibilities for direct importation. Fortunately for the cattle industry, Dr. Wells was the proverbial right man in the right place at the right time. His experiences had uniquely prepared him to research and establish—with the help of an able staff—an importation program that would protect the Canadian cattle industry, while at the same time allay the fears of the United States cattle industry.

In the words of Dr. Wells:

"What followed was an incredible amount of investigation, planning and co-ordination with all the people involved in Foot and Mouth disease. We had to work closely with our counterparts in France, gaining their permission for us to conduct the necessary test, according to our requirements and to negotiate the use of the Brest Quarantine facility in France."⁴

So it was that the efforts of Malmberg and his Charolais associates helped set the stage for the first cattle importations from France in 1965/66⁵ and sparked a revolution in the North American cattle industry. Malmberg became known as "Mr. Charolais of Canada."

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1. "The Simmental Story," by Rodney James, Simmental Country, August, 1987, p. 20, hdnote. (See also, http://data.charolais.com/wordpress/index.php/about-2/history/ ; http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/charolais/ . Note however, this Charolais history states 1966/67 as being the first Charolais import year, but other records confirm 1965/66 as the first year. See News and Views: "Charolais Imports — More On the Way" from page 117 of Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Science, Vol. 30(4)— April 1966 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494523/?page=1 See also  New and Views: "Maximum Security Quarantine Station," Vol. 29(7)—July 1965, pp. 191 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494426/?page=2 ; News and Views: "Health Tests Begin on Charolais Cattle," Vol. 29(10)—October 1965, p. 266 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494454/?page=1
2. For story on "C 15"  purchased from Clint Ferris at Tie Siding, Wyoming, see White Gold: The Story of Charolais in Canada by Sharon Henwood and Bonnie Carruthers, pub. by the Canadian Charolais Assoc., 1986, pp. 15-6.
3. For additional information, see "The Simmental Story," by Rodney James, Simmental Country, August, 1987, p. 20, 22, & 24.
4. "Maximum Quarantine" by Ted Pritchett, Simmental Country, August 1987, p. 51.
5. Import years are framed as 1965/66, because the cattle were chosen in France in 1965; subjected to various quarantines there; arrived at Grosse-Ile, Quebec Canada in the late fall of that year for a minimum 90-day quarantine; thereafter released to their importers in the early spring of 1966 for a further on-farm quarantine; and finally released into breeding service, usually early summer. It was virtually a year-long process. See references at footnote 1. above to establish 1965/66 at the first import year.