Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation

Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation are very excited to announce that the Destiny Simmentals will be the Foundation Friend for 2023!

It is with great enthusiasm that Destiny Family Farms donates to the Foundation to enhance and support youth development in agriculture . Being our 30th year of being a Simmental breeder, we felt it an honour to be approached to participate. This heifer leads off from the keeper pen and was selected to represent our program successes over the years. This heifer origins from the Ms Deck heifer purchased at Agribition in 1999 that really put our program at the front when she was crowned a RAWF Grand Female in 2000. Her granddaughter Twain kept the banners coming as a multiple winner at several shows in her lifetime and progeny that have continued to follow the ancestral success. Twain left her mark in our herd and the industry and still today many of our current herd pedigrees go back to this matriarch. We expect this heifer to follow the pattern of being a front pasture favourite with longevity and progeny successes.Bred early and confirmed to WLB Top Tier on Mar 22.

Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation are very excited to announce that the Downhill Simmentals will be the Foundation Friend for 2021!

As the Foundation Friend for 2022 Downhill Simmentals will donate Lot 1 in the Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation Auction taking place live in person July 23rd in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba and broadcast on DLMS.ca. Tickets on the heifer will be available to purchase any time before or during the auction.

Downhill simmentals purchased the first simmental females in the fall of 2007. I currently stand at 65 breeding females and market bulls through the Horner/Downhill/TSN bull sale on feb 28. Females are generally marketed in the Shades of the Prairie sale in December in Brandon mb. Along with the purebred simmental herd I run 2000 acres of cropland and hayland. The main yard is located in the scenic Valley between Rapid City and Minnedosa. Besides the farm Whitetail deer hunting, bear hunting and fishing are favorite things to do. Visitors always welcome with great hospitality

Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation are very excited to announce that the Crowe Bros. will be the Foundation Friend for 2021!

As the Foundation Friend for 2021 The Crowe Bros will donate Lot 1 in the Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation Auction taking place on DLMS.ca as a live timed event beginning the morning of Friday July 23rd and closing on the evening of Saturday July 24th. Tickets on the heifer will be available to purchase anytime during the auction on DLMS and the winning ticket will be drawn following the Auction on a Face Book live broadcast.

Brent and Scott Crowe, along with their families, operate a mixed family farm one mile south of Gilbert Plains, MB. In 2010, while starting young families, the decision was made to disperse the family dairy, but with livestock in the blood, purebred Simmental's were purchased from Robb Farms. Over the last decade, the Crowe's have sourced elite bulls and females from across Canada and in the United States. They use AI and embryo programs to enhance the quality of their herd. Plans are underway to host their first online bull sale in the spring of 2022 and they continue to market select females at various consignment sales. The Crowe Bros have slowly started to exhibit cattle at Manitoba Ag Ex and Agribition with plans to be more involved in this great industry.

Friends of Canadian Simmental Foundation are very excited to announce that Barlee Simmentals is the 2019 Friend of the Foundation and donor of the Lot 1 Bred Heifer to our annual Fundraising Auction on August 10, 2019.

Barlee Simmentals is a family owned operation from Shawville, Quebec. “My wife Laurie (Murray) and I married in 1973. A year later we moved onto my grandfather’s farm, becoming the 4th generation to live here. Being a Murray from Shawville meant hockey. Raising our 3 sons Ian, Ryan, and Erik meant our lives became very busy with hockey and even more hockey. It also meant many 4-H projects as the Barber family has always been involved in agriculture. We are blessed with 1 granddaughter, Leah, who enjoys coming to the farm and spending time with the animals.” – Jerry Barber.

Barlee Simmentals purchased their first Simmental, RPCC Taylor Swift in 2009 and since then have extended their herd to 15 purebred Simmentals. They spend a lot of time in the summer and fall attending many fairs including Expo Boeuf, the Toronto Royal winter Fair, and Canadian Western Agribition. They also enjoy many Simmental partnerships with good friends at Outlaw Cattle Company & Czech-Mate Simmentals.

The Barber family also owns and operates Petro Pontiac, a local fuel business that delivers furnace oil, propane, commercial and agricultural diesel. Thank you to Jerry & Laurie Barber for their most generous donation and support of the Foundation!

We are pleased to announce the 2018 Friend of the Canadian Simmental Foundation - Lewis Farms, of Spruce Grove, Alberta. Lewis Farms produces 800 acres of seed potatoes, 3000 acres of grain and runs 800 purebred Simmental and Angus cows. Simmental genetics were first introduced to Lewis Farms in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The first registered Simmental cows were purchased in the mid 1970’s. Lewis Farms have been active with their children in 4-H and the YCSA program, while promoting the positive involvement of youth in the cattle industry. Built on a foundation of a family working together over the past 70 years, Lewis farms has become a strong and growing force within the Simmental Breed. Ken Lewis is currently the President of the Friends of the Canadian Simmental Foundation. Lewis Farms has been a strong supporter of the Foundation Auction since its inception. Thank you for your donation of the Lot 1 – Bred Heifer to the 2018 Friends of the Canadian Simmental Foundation Auction.

We are extremely pleased to announce that Tryon Simmentals is the 2017 Friend of the Foundation. Frank along with his family have donated the heifer for Lot 1 of the 2017 Foundation Auction. Tryon Simmentals has been breeding Fleckvieh Simmentals since 1986 when Frank along with his father Harry decided to get into purebred Simmental cattle. In 1988 they purchased a few cattle from the Rolling Hills dispersal that was held in their barn. One of them was RH Patricia who turned out to be the foundation of their herd. Over the years they have built the herd to 40-45 cows and began marketing them through the Fleckvieh forum sale in Ontario from 1998 until they moved to the Bar 5 sale in 2009. They currently run about 45 cows and market cattle through the Eastern Harvest sale. The farm is a family affair with Frank, his wife Lynn and their three boys Rowan, Davis and Bradley being involved. Thank you to the Robblee Family for this generous donation.

McMillen Ranching is a family owned and operated ranching outfit located near Carievale in Southeast Saskatchewan. The operation spans over 10,000 acres of owned and leased land with approximately 4000 acres of seeded farmland and over 6000 in seeded and native grass and hay land. The cowherd consists of over 750 purebred breeding females of both Simmental and Angus genetics. The ranch homesteaded in 1903 now sees the 5th generation helping in day to day operations. MRL hosts their annual bull sale the first Saturday in March every year with over 150 bulls to offer. MRL says the past 45 years in the Simmental program has been very rewarding and enjoyable working with such a great group of people and great bred of cattle. They were proud to once again support the FCSF in 2016 with a top breeding female from their herd.

2015 - Elm Tree Farms is a fifth generation family farm, owned and operated by Glenn and Pamela Wotten with daughters Mariah and Sophie. Located in southern Ontario, their cattle operation started out as a commercial cow/calf herd of over 100 cows. The purchase of their first Fleckvieh Simmental bull from D. Maronda Simmentals in 1993 formed a strong Simmental influence in the cowherd, eventually becoming the heart of the program.

2015 Donation Heifer - ETF 12B has been selected from the strongest replacement heifer pen we have produced to date. With her moderate frame, super deep quarter and attractive lines, she is built right for today’s industry. She is the first calf out of our Crossroad Radium female who was named Champion Female at the NAILE Fullblood show in 2012. Her sire, DFM Ridge’s Damon has been our go-to heifer bull for many years, siring calves with consistently low birth weights and the maternal strength to develop into top-producing females. She will be bred to Anchor D Imax for an early calf.

2014 - Bonchuk Farms is a family owned and operated grain and cattle operation located on the western edge of Manitoba. Their journey with Simmental began with a ¾ blood bull purchased in 1974. They registered their very first female in 1994. Since then Bonchuk Farms has marketed calves and bred heifers through a variety of consignment sales and now host their own female production sale in December. 2015 will be a milestone year with their 15th Anniversary Bull Sale in February. Bonchuk Farms works hard to select tremendous walking herdsires. Some breed greats have walked their pastures, and the most influential thus far has been PRL Houston 005H. Presently, they are proud to walk Stubby, Crosby, Rochfort, Sledge, Ponderosa, Ridgeline, Red Rock, Dealer, Sheriff, plus many more. It takes a lot of bulls to cover 400+ breeding females and the Bonchuks work hard to make sure they have some of the best in the country. With a dedicated “old-school” emphasis on the best of hospitality, Bonchuk Farms enjoy the people just as much as the cattle and are excited to be a part of this year’s AGM and Auction Events in Manitoba. The Bonchuks love sharing their story and encourage everyone to pop in for a visit or a tour. They are easy to find, located right off Highway 16 at Solsgirth. Bonchuk Farms - where the coffee is always on, the beer is always cold, and the perogies are homemade.

2013 - R Plus Simmentals is located in Estevan, Sask. , owned and operated by Marlin and Lucille LeBlanc . We hosted our 15th annual bull sale in March 2015. We are currently running about 450 Red and Black purebred Simmental cows.

We are and have always been true believers in Simmental cattle. We enjoy the youth component of the breed and have been honored to help them by being involved with FCSF.

It was a honor to be asked to donate a heifer to the auction fundraiser and most gratifying to see our genetics help raise funds for FCSF and the Simmental junior programs.

2012 - Vaughn and Cindy Gibbons - Stevensville, ON - $6500