The Simmental or Swiss Fleckvieh is a Swiss breed of dual-purpose cattle. It is named after the Simmental – the valley of the Simme river – in the Bernese Oberland, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is reddish in colour with white markings, and is raised for both milk and meat. History European origin Among the older and most widely distributed of all breeds of cattle in the world, and recorded since the Middle Ages, the Simmental breed has contributed to the creation of several other famous European breeds, including the Montbéliarde (France), the Pezzata Rossa d'Oropa (Italy), and the Fleckvieh (Germany and Austria). Africa Namibia (1893) and South Africa (1905) were the first countries outside Europe where the breed was successfully established. Here the breed is known as Simmentaler and is mainly used for beef cattle production under suckler cow systems. The Simmentaler breeders' society is, as far as registered animals are concerned, by far the largest of the 17 European and British breeds. The main reasons for its popularity are (i) it can be used with great success in crossbreeding for breeding of both cows with much milk and heavy weaners/oxen, (ii) its superb weight growth rate in feedlots - pure or crossed, and (iii) a strict visual inspection is compulsory for registration in the Herdbook. Soviet Union In the former Soviet Union, the Simmental was the most important cattle breed. Russian Simmental (Симментальская корова) accounted for one-quarter of all cattle in the USSR. Through extensive crossbreeding, six strains were developed: Steppe Simmental (Russian cattle × Simmental bulls) Ukrainian Simmental (Grey steppe cattle × Simmental bulls) Volga Simmental (Central Russian Kalmyk and Kazakh cattle × Simmental bulls) Ural Simmental (Siberian and Kazakh cattle × Simmental) Siberian Simmental (Siberian and Buryat cattle × Simmental) Far Eastern Simmental (Transbaikal and Yakutian cattle × Simmental) In 1990, there were 12,849,800 Simmental in the USSR. In 2003, the Simmental count in Russia stood at 2,970,400. Different names The breed is known under the following names Fleckvieh Simmental: Argentina Simmental: Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France (early 1990s name change from Pie Rouge), Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland (SI-division), United Kingdom, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe Fleckvieh: Austria, Germany, Netherland, Spain, Switzerland (SF-division) and Uruguay Simmentaler: South Africa and Namibia Local names based on the breed-name used in the official breed association names which boil down to "spotted cattle":