Cattle Registry

American Herbataurus cattle (in Greek herba is grass and taurus is bull) are the result of a Devon up breeding program using the Rotokawa® Devon genetics that originated from Ken McDowell’s herd in Wanganui, New Zealand.
 
The whole process started back in 2003 when Gearld Fry and Ridge Shinn starting importing semen from a truly impressive group of bulls in order to restore grass-fed genetics here in North America. 

The semen was used on Devon females and soon commercial females.  The change that came with just the first generation was tremendous.  The animals had depth.  They had more width and muscle mass.  They were calm and gained easily on grass. The word spread and semen orders poured in from across the nation.

These Rotokawa® bulls were being used on Angus, Herefords, Charolais, even Jerseys and other diary breeds.  It was becoming obvious that these Rotokawa® Devon offspring, if used in the right breeding program and managed correctly, had the potential to set a new standard and put the grass farmer on the road to profitability.  True, the calves would be neither Devon nor the breed of the cow but could become a breed of their own.

A breed is defined as a relatively homozygous group of animals within a species; a race or stock with certain inherited characteristics.  By instituting a paternal line breeding program using these proven, prepotent bulls, within a few generations you can have animals that will efficiently utilize your grass, are predictable, and consistent in their performance for producing quality gourmet beef.

This new breed is named American Herbataurus and the American Herbataurus Society (AHS) is the registry for these Rotokawa® Devon influenced cattle.  We offer a pedigree service and certifying program.

American Herbataurus is a concept as well.  In other words, by implementing the Fry Herd Improvement Program, almost any stockman can create cattle that will produce gourmet beef from his/her grass.  But in order to achieve our goal of building a breed that meets the definition, we needed to set the foundation.  While other Devon bloodlines have merit, the Rotokawa® bloodlines consistently meet a standard like no other and knowing how the bulls rubber stamp their quality into their calves, it was the right decision to use them as the foundation genetics for American Herbataurus cattle.

 

To register animals with the American Herbataurus Society the following guidelines apply.

• You must be a current member

• Any female that is sired by a Rotokawa® Devon bloodline bull can be entered into the regular registry.  For any animal you must submit a copy of the sire’s pedigree at the time a applying for registration.  Many of the Rotokawa® bulls are already in the data base and submitting the pedigree of any of these bulls is not required.

• Males have to be minimum ¾ Devon bloods, having Rotokawa® in the immediate ancestry and preferably a double bred Rotokawa®, to be accepted into the regular registry. 

• All ¾ bloods are to be evaluated and meet the Society’s minimum animal standards for grass-fed genetics in order to qualify for an AHS “Certified” pedigree certificate.

• It is strongly recommended that animals be evaluated and linear measured at 12-14 months of age by a qualified AHS representative in order to effectively assess their genetic quality.  In the event that an animal is not evaluated and measured during this window, the society is willing to revisit the certification process on a case by case basis.

As a side note, the American Herbataurus Society will certify other breeds that meet the society’s standards for grass-fed genetics.  Think of us as the AKC (American Kennel Club) of the grass-fed cattle industry.  We also have members who raise other breeds and have asked us to register those animals into our data base.  The society is willing to keep ancestry records for other breeds and provide pedigrees for those cattle. 

Only cattle that are Rotokawa® influenced are to be referred to as American Herbataurus cattle.  Other breeds in our data base may state that they are registered with the AHS and those that are certified may claim that they meet the society’s standards for grass-fed genetics.  The intent is to give credibility and value to all cattle that possess the genetic characteristics for profitable grass-fed beef production.