Hereford cattle

The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle that originated in the county of Herefordshire, in the West Midlands of England.[1][2] It has been exported to many countries, and there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide.[3] The breed was first exported from the United Kingdom in 1817, initially to Kentucky,[4] and spreading across the United States and Canada, through Mexico, to the great beef-raising countries of South America. Today, Hereford cattle dominate the world scene from Australasia to the Russian steppes. They can be found in Israel, Japan and throughout continental Europe and Scandinavia, in the temperate parts of Australia, Canada, the United States, Kazakhstan and Russia, in the centre and east of Argentina, in Uruguay, in Chile, and in New Zealand, where they make up the largest proportion of registered cattle.[5] They are found all around Brazil[6] and they are also found in some Southern African countries[7] (mainly in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). They originally found great popularity among ranchers of the American Southwest, testament to the hardiness of the breed; while originating in cool, moist Britain, they have proven to thrive in much harsher climates on nearly every continent.

Hereford cattle
A Hereford bull
Conservation statusLeast Concern
Country of originHerefordshire, England
UseBeef
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    1800 lbs. (bull)
  • Female:
    1200 lbs.
Height
  • Male:
    152 cm (59.8 in.)
  • Female:
    140 cm (55 in.)
CoatRed, white
Horn statusWhite
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus
Grazing Hereford cattle

The World Hereford Council[8] is based in the United Kingdom. There are currently 20 Hereford societies in 17 member countries, and a further eight societies in 10 nonmember countries.[9] In the United States, the official Hereford organization and breed registry is the American Hereford Association. It is the second-largest society of its kind in the country.[10]

History
Hereford bull of Mr. Jeffries, winning the first prize of the 1843 Royal Agricultural Show in Derby

Until the 18th century, the cattle of the Herefordshire area were similar to other cattle of southern England, being wholly red with a white switch, similar to the modern North Devon and Sussex breeds. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, other cattle (mainly Shorthorns) were used to create a new type of draught and beef cattle which at first varied in colour, different herds ranging from yellow to grey and light brown, and with varying amounts of white. However, by the end of the 18th century the white face characteristic of the modern breed was well established, and the modern colour was established during the 19th century.[11]

The Hereford is still seen in the Herefordshire countryside today[12] and featured prominently at agricultural shows.[13][14][15] The first imports of Herefords to the United States were around 1817 by the politician Henry Clay, with larger importation of the breed beginning in the 1840s.[16][17]

Polled Hereford
A Polled Hereford bull

The Polled Hereford is a hornless variant of the Hereford with the polled gene, a natural genetic mutation that was selected into a separate breed beginning in 1889.[18]

Iowa cattle rancher Warren Gammon capitalised on the idea of breeding Polled Herefords and started the Polled Hereford registry with 11 naturally polled cattle. The American Polled Hereford Association (APHA) was formed in 1910. The American Polled Hereford and American Hereford breeds have been combined since 1995, under the same American Hereford Association name.[19]

Traditional Hereford
Hereford cow and crossbred calf

Many strains of Hereford have used other cattle breeds to import desired characteristics, and this has led to changes in the breed as a whole. However, some strains have been kept separate, and these have retained characteristics of the earlier breed, such as hardiness and thriftiness.[20] The Traditional Hereford is now treated as a minority breed of value for genetic conservation.[21]

Health
A Hereford calf in Victoria, Australia

Eye cancer (ocular squamous cell carcinoma) occurs in Herefords in particular in countries with continued bright sunlight and those that prefer traits of low levels of red pigmentation around the eye.[22][23][24] Studies have been made into eye cancer in Hereford cattle in the US and Canada, and lid and corneoscleral pigment were found to be heritable and likely to decrease the risk of cancer.[25] Vaginal prolapse is considered a heritable problem in Hereford cattle, but it may also be influenced by nutrition.[26][27] Another problem is exposed skin on the udder being of light pigmentation and therefore vulnerable to sun burn.

Dwarfism is known to be prevalent in Hereford cattle and has been determined to be caused by an autosomal recessive gene.[28] Due to equal occurrence in heifers and bulls, dwarfism is not considered a sex-linked characteristic.[29]

See also

References
  1. "Breeds of Livestock - Cattle". Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  2. Sanders, Alvin H. (1914). The story of the Herefords. Chicago: Sanders Publishing Company. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  3. "Cattle Breeds - Hereford". The Cattle Site. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  4. "Early Chronology of the Hereford Breed 1723-1955". The Hereford Herd Book Society. 1995. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  5. "Commercial Beef Cattle in New Zealand". Beef New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  6. "Associação Brasileira de Hereford e Braford". Associação Brasileira de Hereford e Braford. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  7. "World Hereford Council". WHC. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. "World Hereford Council". Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  9. "Member and Non-Member Countries". World Hereford Council. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  10. "About". American Hereford Association. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  11. Trow-Smith, Robert (1959), A History of British Livestock Husbandry 1700–1900, Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp 100–103.
  12. "Hereford Cattle, Ashford Carbonel (C) Richard Webb". www.geograph.org.uk.
  13. "National Hereford Show (C) Richard Webb". www.geograph.org.uk.
  14. "Here comes the judge (C) Richard Webb". www.geograph.org.uk.
  15. "National Hereford Show (C) Richard Webb". www.geograph.org.uk.
  16. Miller, Timothy Lathrop; Sotham, William H. (1902). History of Hereford Cattle: Proven Conclusively the Oldest of Improved Breeds. Chillicothe, Missouri: T. F. B. Sotham. p. 146.
  17. George, Milton (ed.) (1886). The Western Rural Year Book, a Cyclopedia of Reference. Chicago: Milton George. p. 247.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  18. Roberts, David (1916). Cattle Breeds and Origin. Waukesha, Wisc.: David Roberts. pp. 131–32.
  19. "Associations merge" Archived 3 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  20. "Traditional Hereford Breeders Club". www.traditionalherefords.org.
  21. "British Rare Breed Survival Trust watchlist: Traditional Hereford". Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  22. H R Guilbert; A Wahid; K A Wagnon; P W Gregory. "OBSERVATIONS ON PIGMENTATION OF EYELIDS OF HEREFORD CATTLE IN RELATION TO OCCURRENCE OF OCULAR EPITHELIOMAS". Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  23. R R Woodward; Bradford Knapp, Jr. "The Hereditary Aspect of Eye Cancer in Hereford Cattle". Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  24. Gerry Watt (January 2006). "Eye Cancer in Cattle". Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  25. D. E. Anderson (1991). "Genetic Study of Eye Cancer in Cattle". The Journal of Heredity. 82 (1): 21–26. doi:10.1093/jhered/82.1.21. PMID 1997589. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  26. A Study of Vaginal and Uterine Prolapse in Hereford Cattle Retrieved 22 December 2009
  27. 81st Western Veterinary Conference: Medical and Surgical Management of Vaginal Prolapse in Cattle Archived 15 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 22 December 2009
  28. Smith, W.H., and L.A. Holland. “Dwarfism in Beef Cattle.” Dwarfism in Beef Cattle. Proc. Of 41st Annual Livestock Feeders’ Day, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. N.p.: Kansas Agricultural Experiment Salon, n.d. 34-38. Kansas State University Libraries. Web. 3 November 2016. <http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/handle/2097/13309>.
  29. Jones, Jan M., and R.d. Jolly. “Dwarfism in Hereford Cattle: A Genetic Morphological and Biochemical Study.” New Zealand Veterinary Journal 30.12 (1982): 185-89. Journal.
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