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Origin, History and Development
Into the North Sea, on the east coast of England just north of
the bulge toward Europe, a river, the Tees, empties. It was along
this river that the Shorthorn breed was developed. The earliest
knowledge of the forerunners to the breed is word of mouth, that
for two hundred years before 1780, there were short horned cattle
on the Yorkshire estates of the Dukes and Earls of Northumberland.
Shorthorn stock had been in the herds of
Smithsons of Stanwick since the middle 1600's.
Several men helped to bring the breed to its present high
standard of perfection by selecting animals that were best suited
to meet the demands of practical farmers.
In Shorthorn history, the names of Bates, Booth and
Cruickshank are noted. Bates and Booth were Englishmen who
developed what are usually referred to as 'English Shorthorns.'
Cruickshank was a Scotchman who developed the 'Scotch Shorthorns.'
The Bates type of Shorthorns were noted for
their style and good milking qualities. Cruickshank's cattle were
thicker, blockier, and meatier.
Most of the early importations of Shorthorns to America came
from English herds and were of the Bates and Booth types; those
that came directly from the Bates herd or descendants of that herd
had very good milking qualities.
As explained, the Milking Shorthorn is not a separate
and distinct breed, but rather a segment of the Shorthorn breed.
The pedigrees of both the Milking Shorthorn and the scotch
Shorthorn trace to the same foundation animals if carried to breed
origin.
Shorthorns Enter USA in 1783
An unknown number of both types, the milk breed and the beef
breed, were brought from England by a Mr. Gough of Maryland and his
partner, a Mr. Miller of Virginia. Importations continued during
the early 1800's and the breed moved into New York, Kentucky, Ohio
and deeper into the Midwest. The first herd west of the Mississippi
River is reported to have been established by N. Cooper on his
Ravenswood Farm in Missouri in 1839. Today, Milking Shorthorns are found in almost every area of the
United States.
It should be gratifying to anyone interested in Milking
Shorthorns to learn how much the breed contributed to the
livelihood of our nation. Its hardiness, wide range of adaptation
and efficiency of production provided milk, meat and transportation
for our pioneers. The breed's many attributes continue to provide a
livelihood for the breeders of today.
A Versatile Breed
The Milking Shorthorn breed is the most
versatile of all breeds and this is one of its greatest attributes.
These docile cows efficiently produce large volumes of nutritious
milk each lactation and are large enough to have a high salvage
value when their long productive lives finally come to an end. In
addition, their healthy calves born each year on regular calving
intervals are spunky at birth, grow rapidly, and those not kept for
breeding stock and herd replacement make efficient gains and hang
very desirable grading carcasses.
Other attributes of the breed include ease of calving, ease of
management and economy of production, especially on home produced
roughages and grass.
One of the first official demonstrations of the production
ability of Milking Shorthorns was made at the World's Exposition in
Chicago in 1893 where two of the leading cows of the test were
Kitty Clay 3rd and Kitty Clay 4th, the latter standing third in net
profit over all breeds. These sister cows became the foundation for
the Clay cow family of Milking Shorthorns, developed at Glenside
Farm, Granville Center, Pennsylvania.
Milking Shorthorns in the USA
Breeders began recording their Shorthorn cattle in 1846 with the
first volume of the American Herdbook. In 1882, the American
Shorthorn Breeders' Association was formed to register and promote
both Milking and Scotch (beef) Shorthorns. In 1912, a group of
Milking Shorthorn breeders organized the Milking Shorthorn Club to
work within the framework of ASBA. Its membership was interested in
advertising the good milk qualities of the breed by keeping
official milk records and encouraging breed improvements.
The American Milking Shorthorn Society (AMSS) incorporated in
1948 and took over the registration and promotion of Milking
Shorthorns. In April 1950, the Milking Shorthorn office moved from
Chicago to Springfield, Missouri. Milking Shorthorns were declared
a dairy breed in 1969 and in 1972 became members of the Purebred
Dairy Cattle Association. The Society national office moved to its
present home, Beloit, Wisconsin in 1986.
Milking Shorthorn breeders in the USA have many opportunities
for improving the genetics of their animals by participating in the
breed's official production testing, type trait appraisal, gain
performance, national shows and breed promotion programs.
Breeders can use semen from the breed's highest proven bulls.
Semen of high genetic value is also available from carefully
selected young sires approved by the Young Sire Committee. Also,
two grade-up programs make it possible for anyone to bring
outstanding neglected purebreds back into the Official Herd Book
and to introduce the best of other internationally recognized high
producing breeds into a program with rigid requirements.
It is a fact that no breed has made greater improvement during
the past 15 years and even greater increases are expected in the
future. Milking Shorthorns have become more dairy and more angular
and improved udder quality. Anyone having the opportunity to
observe recent national Milking Shorthorn shows can not help but be
impressed by the number of superior individuals presented which
were bred by breeders from coast to coast.
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