1. Breeds of Cattle

2. Beef Breeds
Common Beef Breeds:
Hereford
Angus
Shorthorn
South Devon

4. Hereford White face red coat Very hardy Polled
High quality meat with marbling
Excellent mothering
Docile
Highly fertile and calve easily

5. Angus Solid black colour Naturally polled
Hardy, undemanding, and adaptable
Mature in 2 years
High carcase yield
Marbling
Calve easily and good mothers

6. Shorthorn Long to medium horns Have been farmed for both meat and milk
Medium size
Docile and easy to handle
Good calving and mothering
Meat is lean but marbled good flavour
Crossed with other breeds

7. South Devon Docile and easy to handle
Used for crossing with other breeds
Highly fertile, easy calving, and good mothering
Adapts to temperature extremes
Good at converting grass to meat

8. Exotic Breeds
Limousin
Charolais
Simmental
Saler
Belgian Blue

9. Limousin Medium sized and well muscled Golden brown coat Mature early
High quality carcase and high meat to bone ratio
Polled
Efficient feed converters

10. Charolais Colour varies from white to light straw
Docile which allows for high feed conversion rates
Large size, heavily muscled
Lean meat give high dressing out percentages
Companies pay a premium
Tolerates heat well

11. Simmental Red and white spotted or gold and white. White face Horned
Easy to handle, hardy
High and long term fertility.
Bulls common as terminal sires often mated with Hereford and Angus
Good mothering and milk yield
Fast growing can mature in 12 months
Excellent converters of grass to meat

12. Saler
Black and polled
Excellent foragers on rough pastures and hay in winter
Thick coat in winter makes them hardy
Strong legs and feet can hadle rough ground without feet problems
Excellent mothers and calving

13. Belgian Blue Used as terminal sires for passing on double muscle gene
Very lean meat with high meat to bone ratio.

14. Terms used in Breeding Store cattle – young stock not yet fattened
Freemartin – twins born with defects that make them infertile
Springing cow – pregnant cow about to give birth
Teaser bull – neutered bull but can still mate
Nurse cow – used for rearing calves
Dry cow – cow not producing milk
Terminal sire – male used in breeding for meat breeds
Maternal cattle – cows used for producing dairy breeds
Bull – adult male
Calf – young cattle not weaned
Heifer – female cow not mated
Steer – castrated male
Bullock – same as steer
Bobby calf – male or female calves reared for meat

15. Steers and Bulls Not castrated – for breeding
Castrated to make more docile and put on weight on hind quarters