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Beef Cattle Breeds
To discuss breeds, it is necessary to
understand that term. There is no generally accepted definition,
scientific or otherwise, of a breed. A 1940 dictionary defines breed as “a
race of animals which have some distinctive qualities in common.” A 1999
dictionary says “a stock of animals within a species having similar
appearance, usually developed by deliberate selection.”
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There is no “official” recognition of cattle breeds. At one time, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture periodically printed a bulletin, “Beef Cattle
Breeds.” Although inclusion in this publication was often considered
official recognition, the 1975 edition of the publication clearly stated,
“Inclusion of a breed should not be interpreted as official recognition by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
There are organizations of breeds, such as the National Pedigreed
Livestock Council, but not all breed associations are members. The
National Association of Animal Breeders has 108 breed codes for
identifying cattle semen. I. L. Mason’s World Dictionary of Livestock
Breeds lists more than 250 “numerically or historically important” breeds
of cattle, along with many less important ones.
One definition of a breed might be animals recorded in an association
registry. There are currently some 75 cattle breed registries in the
United States. In some cases, there are more than one registry for
essentially the same breed.
The only actions needed to start a registry are to adopt specific
requirements of eligibility and start recording ancestry. Although those
requirements may vary considerably and may not be very stringent, an
existing registry may be as good a definition of a breed as any other
criteria.
The distinguished animal breeder Dr. Jay
Lush, in The Genetics of Populations, said, “A breed is a group of
domestic animals, termed such by common consent of the breeders.” In
short, a “breed” is whatever you say it is.
Miniature cattle breeds are gaining momentum and becoming very popular in
the USA. A lot of this popularity can be attributed to the increase in
small farms springing up in all areas as more and more people are going
for the rural living life style. Minis are better adapted to small
holdings, are good converters of grass into beef thus allowing one to grow
their own home raised beef without a lot of extra effort.
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