Five-year overview of the Simmental cattle population in Central Serbia

Serbia has a high potential for livestock production, which is suitable for breeding dual-purpose Simmental cows, both for milk and meat production. High quality animals with strong breeding potential registered in the main herd book are monitored for their production performance, reflecting the national authorities' commitment to the cattle sector. According to the reports of the Institute for Animal Husbandry and the results of the implementation of the main breeding programme in the past five-year period (2024-2029), not only the number of cows, but also the total number of all categories of Simmental cattle in the main herd has decreased in the territory of Central Serbia. Selection process in milk production is carried out through continuous cooperation between farmers-breeders of high-quality breeding cattle - and local breeding organisations, both at local and regional level. In central Serbia, there are over 150 registered local breeding organisations that take on the tasks of recording/registering and selecting the cattle in the herds. In this study, data from the main breeding organisation for livestock farming for the area of central Serbia, the Institute for Animal Husbandry in Zemun, and its annual reports were used. The tabular analysis and the five-year trend of animal numbers are presented according to the number of registered animals, the number of linearly evaluated cows after the first calving and the achieved lactation yield of milk, milk fat and milk protein (standardised to 305 days). Based on the analysed and discussed results of the selection work on Simmental cows, it can be concluded that there has been some progress in milk production, but also a reduction in the number of individuals. It is important to emphasise that these results have an impact on the overall productivity of the cattle population in central Serbia.