1. Herefordshire, England – the breed’s home ground
On the Welsh Marches of Herefordshire (Hfds.), farmers shaped the Hereford over the 18th century: deep red body, white face, and a reputation for hardiness, thrift, and good beef on hilly grassland[1][2][3].
2. Guelph, Ontario – the Canadian foundation (1860)
Englishman Frederick William Stone, living near Guelph, Ontario, saw prize Herefords at the Royal Show in Canterbury (1859) and arranged for his brother to buy 8 heifers and a bull (“Patriot”) from Lord Bateman’s herd. These animals arrived in 1860 as Canada’s founding Hereford importation[4][5][6].
3. Southern Ontario & Quebec – early Canadian herds (1860s)
Through the 1860s–1870s, British‑bred bulls (including Herefords) were widely used to upgrade local stock. By 1865, Senator M.H. Cochrane in Quebec had also started a Hereford herd, helping build an eastern Canadian base before the Prairie boom[7][5].
4. Across the Atlantic – export boom to the Great Plains (1870s)
In the 1870s, Herefords were exported in large numbers from Britain to North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand, as part of a push to feed Britain with “British” meat raised abroad. Their adaptability made them especially attractive for the Great Plains environment[8][9].
5. Alberta grazing leases – the Prairie explosion (1881 onward)
In 1881, Canada opened huge 21‑year grazing leases in Alberta (up to 100,000 acres at 1¢/acre), requiring rapid stocking. Cattle imports into Alberta leapt from 1,352 (1880) to 16,282 (1882), and by 1886 an estimated 90,000–104,000 cattle occupied the grazing lands of the North‑West. Herefords, with their hardiness and ability to finish on native grass, became a core part of this new ranch economy[9].
6. Polled Herefords and long‑term dominance (1903 onward)
In 1903, Mossom Boyd of Bobcaygeon, Ontario imported the first Polled Herefords to Canada, removing horns and increasing manageability on large ranches. Over the 20th century, Herefords remained a basic beef breed of Western Canada, with a large share of commercial cowherds carrying Hereford breeding[4][6][10][11].
References
- Hereford.org. (n.d.). Breed focus: Origin and migration of Hereford breed character [PDF]. https://hereford.org/static/files/1013_BreedFocus.pdf
- Hereford.org. (2017). Hereford heritage factsheet [PDF]. https://hereford.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HerefordHeritageFactsheet.pdf
- Hereford Cattle Society. (2020). Our history. https://www.herefordcattle.org/our-history/
- Canadian Hereford Association. (n.d.). Breed history. https://hereford.ca/about/breed-history/
- Canadian Hereford Association. (n.d.). 150 years story [PDF]. https://hereford.ca/archive/2_member/history/150%20years%20story.pdf
- Studylib. (2017). A short history of the Hereford breed. https://studylib.net/doc/8293218/a-short-history-of-the-hereford-breed
- CORE. (n.d.). The historical development of cattle production in Canada [PDF]. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/185287241.pdf
- Oxford Academic. (2017). Five: A universal type. In The Hereford breed and the making of the global beef industry. https://academic.oup.com/north-carolina-scholarship-online/book/15514/chapter-abstract/170189977
- BAHS. (n.d.). Cattle on the northern plains: The development of the Canadian beef industry, 1880–1914 [PDF]. British Agricultural History Society. https://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/50n1a4.pdf
- Canadian Hereford Association. (2012). Practical cattle for practical cattlemen. https://www.hereford.ca/archive/2_breed.php
- Canadian Hereford Association. (n.d.). The breed. https://www.hereford.ca/about/the-breed/
- Wikimedia Commons. (n.d.). File:Hereford bull large.jpg. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hereford_bull_large.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment