Considerable progress has been made in selecting cattle that give very satisfactory levels of production under the practical and often severe range conditions. Satisfaction by ranchers and creditable performance in feedlots indicate the value of stressing the important utilitarian points in developing breeding herds.
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Mr. Lasater also developed a registered Hereford herd in which the cattle had red circles around each eye. In both his Brahman and Hereford breeding,milk production was stressed. Following his death in 1930, the breeding
operations came under the direction of his son, Tom Lasater, who began
to combine the breeding of the Brahman and Hereford cattle and also used some registered Shorthorn bulls. After making crosses of Brahman, Hereford and Brahman-Shorthorn, he felt a superior animal had been produced and called the cattle "Beefmaster".
The exact pedigree of the foundation cattle was not known. The breeding
operations were carried on in multiple-sire herds and rigid culling was
practiced. The Lasater Ranch estimates that modern Beefmaster have slightly
less than one-half Brahman blood and slightly more than one-fourth of Hereford
and Shorthorn breeding.
The cattle were handled under range conditions that were often adverse, and their culling program was started based on disposition, fertility, weight, conformation, hardiness and milk production. Stress was placed on the production of beef. No selection was made related to characteristics that do not affect the carcass, such as horns, hide or color.
The Lasater Ranch breeding program provided an interesting example
of the use of mass selection in reaching a goal. Critics should recall
that other breeds had been established in a similar way - a blending of
breeding followed by selection for economically important points Uniformity
in many breeds has been achieved only after many generations of selection.
The original concepts of Tom Lasater in developing Beefmaster cattle
have continued. Selection continues for those points which were originally
used by Mr. Lasater and are now known as the Six Essentials -
References:
Briggs, H.M. & D.M. Briggs. Modern Breeds of Livestock.
Fourth Edition. Macmillan Publishing Co. 1980
Photographs:
Promotional materials. Beefmaster Breeders United, San Antonio, Texas
Photos courtesy of Beefmaster Breeders United, San Antonio, Texas
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Becky Fitzgerald
RM Farm / EquineLinks
143 J. Mills Road
Smiths Grove, KY