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Hereford | ||
The Hereford breed of beef cattle was established near Herefordshire, county of Hereford, England almost 300 years ago as a product of necessity. Thrifty, enterprising British farmers were seeing the need to produce beef for the expanding food market created by Britain's industrial revolution. To successfully meet this growing demand, these early-day cattlemen needed cattle which could efficiently convert native grasses to beef, and do it at a profit.
No breed at the time could fill that need, so the farmers of Herefordshire developed and founded the breed that logically became known as Herefords. These early Hereford breeders molded their cattle with the goals of high beef yields and efficient production. They solidly fixed these traits that remain today as outstanding characterisitics of the breed. Cattle with the trade-mark white faces and distinvtive red bodies are instantly recognized world-wide as a time-tested, reliable source of profitable beef cattle genetics.
Benjamin Tomkins is credited with being a primary founder of the Hereford breed. He began in 1742 with a bull calf from the cow Silver and two cows, Pidgeon and Mottle, inherited from his father's estate. Tomkins' goals were economy in feeding, natural ability to grow and gain on grass and grain, rustling ability, hardiness, early maturity, and high rates of reproduction, traits that are still of primary importance today.
Other pioneering breeders followed Tomkins' lead and established the world-wide reputation for these Herefordshire cattle, thus causing their exportation from England to wherever grass grows and beef production is possible.
Herefords were introduced to the United States in 1817 when statesman Henry Clay of Kentucky made the first importation of a bull and two females. These cattle and their offspring attracted considerable attention, but they were eventually absorbed by the local cattle population and disappeared from permanent identity.
The first breeding of herd in America is considered to be one established in 1840 by William H. Sotham and Erastus Corning of Albany, NY, and for practical purposes Herefords in the US date from the Sotham-Corning beginning. The more densely populated eastern area of the US, including herd in New England, was the early home of Herefords. From there they fanned out to the South, Midwest, and West as population expanded and demand for beef increased.
Several breeders were active in exhibiting at fairs and exhibitions in the East and Midwest where the Herefords met with great success. Records from the 1844 New York State Fair show that 11 Herefords were exhibitied there and were "highly praised." Perhaps the greatest early interest in the breed came from the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia where T.J. Miller was awarded a medal for the first-prize herd.
With the end of the Civil War and the coming of the American Industrial Revolution, the westward expansion continued and so did America's appetite for beef.Western ranching developed from free land and local longhorned cattle originally brought to Mexico by the Spanish conquerors and allowed to drift northward into what is now America's great southwestern cattle country. These cattle were tought and had the bred-in ability to survive, a trait that enabled their being driven to railhead shipping points and then transported by rail to slaughter at eastern markets. It was on such cattle that Herefords proved the great improver. They survived the rough ranching conditions and improved beef quality in the process. Demand for Hereford bulls boomed.
To satisfy the growing market which developed from the western area cattlemen, Hereford breeders expanded their herds through heavy importations from Herefordshire. Whereas only 200 head were imported up to 1880, more than 3,500 head of Herefords came over during the 1880-1889 period. During this time, breeders of Herefords led by such men as T.L. Miller, C.M. culbertson, and thomas Clark, all of Illinois, won hard fought battles for breed accpetance in the agricultural fairs and expositions which furthered the use of Herefords in American beef production.
Early Hereford breeder promorters and exhibitors in the 1870's and 1880's include such names as Earl, Stuart, Fowler, Van Natta, and Studebaker of Indiana, and the Swan Land and Cattle Co., forerunner of the present Wyoming Hereford Ranch. These breeders were instrumental in the movement of Herefords to Wyoming, other mountain states and the Northwest. Gudgell and Simpson of Missouri made their start in 1877.
