Beef Shorthorn
The Beef Shorthorn breed of cattle was developed from the Shorthorn breed in England and Scotland in around 1820.[1] The Shorthorn was originally developed as a dual purpose breed, suitable for both dairy and beef production. However different breeders opted to concentrate on one purpose rather than the other, and in 1958 the beef breeders started their own section of the herdbook. Since then the Beef Shorthorns have been developed as a separate breed to the Dairy Shorthorns.
By the early 1970s the Beef Shorthorn breeders were concerned that their cattle were too small and lacked muscle, especially when compared with the continental breeds of cattle - like the Charolais or Limousin - that were starting to be introduced to the UK. To help remedy this, in 1976 the Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society sanctioned the introduction of Maine-Anjou blood into the breed. The Maine-Anjou breed was developed in France, and was descended from the same Durham cattle as the Shorthorn had been developed from. The decision to introduce Maine-Anjou blood into the Beef Shorthorn breed was very controversial at the time, however most breeders now acknowledge that it was a necessary step which saved the breed from irrelevance. The herd book was closed to Maine-Anjou blood lines in 2001, except by introduction through the Grading Register.
The Beef Shorthorn breed is not considered at risk by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust since there are more than 1,500 registered breeding females in the United Kingdom.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Friend, John B., Cattle of the World, Blandford Press, Dorset, 1978, ISBN 0-7137-0856-5
- ^ Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list accessed 21st May 2008
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
This cattle-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
