Why Rotokawa® Bulls as the Foundation Genetics
For
American Herbataurus Cattle?

 

When I saw the Rotokawa® bulls at Ken McDowall’s in Wangnui, New Zealand and walked amongst them and his cows for the first time I knew I had found gold.  It felt like I had come full circle back to true, thrive-on-grass type cattle.

It was 1956 when I made a trip to Tom Lasiter’s in Colorado with my neighbor who bought a bull from him to breed his Hereford cows.  In those days, the cattle in my community weighed in at the 800-900 pound range.  Small by today’s standards, but they were profitable for milk and butter and at the market.

I was sixteen and had never seen cattle like Mr. Lasiter’s Beef-Masters.  The calves that my neighbor got from using his bulls were 200-300 pounds heavier at weaning and the heifers he kept turned into big cows, a sure sign of hybrid vigor from the heterosis that was occurring.

I remember when my neighbor bought a Charolias bull and lost 25% of his calves during birth.  It wasn’t long till that bull was gone, but boy what an impression that whole situation left on me.

There were no cattle anywhere in my area that were even close to the size of those Beef-Masters cross bred calves.  They were so round and full and growthy.

I can remember how all the local auction company owners would come and spend hours viewing the calves and they would try to encourage my neighbor to place those calves in their auction. But he didn’t sell at the auctions. No, he raised corn and finished the calves himself.

At that time there were many small packing companies that visited farms to buy cattle direct from the producers.  Several would come to my neighbor’s but Mr. Roger Brown who owned Brown Packing was always the highest bidder.  He paid my neighbor by hanging weight.  That system went on for ten years until the feed-lots and large slaughter companies, with their efficiency of scale, put both parties (the small packing companies and many small farmers) out of business

So why Rotokawa bulls to build the American Herbataurus breed?

Over the years of my life I have had the great privilege and wonderful opportunity to meet and learn from some the world’s best breeders;  Dr. Jan Bonsma, Mr. Harlan Doeschote, Mr. Tom Lasiter, Buck Chastain and Ken McDowall to name a few.  They managed some of the finest herds of cattle.  The accomplishments of each one of these men have left a lasting impression in my mind and spirit. So when I met Ken McDowall, visited his farm, and studied his Devon cattle, I was wise enough to recognize the genetic quality and grass production potential of his herd.  I could take his 32 years of hard work and experience and put it to work for others.

I knew what true grass genetic cattle looked like.  They filled America’s pastures when I was growing up.  I knew how to judge cattle that were functionally efficient and reproductively sound from those that weren’t for whatever reasons.  My mentors, diligent reading and putting what I’ve learned into practice have made all this possible.  I did not intentionally make it my mission to be an expert, I had to make a living and feed my family.  Through the course of time and my involvement with food (milk & meat) production and animal reproduction, that knowledge and my wisdom accumulated.

In 2002 I was commissioned to find bulls that would revitalize the American grass-fed beef industry.  Good cows weren’t the issue, but locating good bulls was a problem.  Explaining to you why there were good cows and not good bulls is actually simple but would take up too much space here.  You will find that information in other areas of the website.

So off I went to foreign countries and ended up at Rotokawa® Estates in New Zealand.  This is when I met Ken McDowall.  He had successfully built a herd of all grass-fed cattle that were still pure in their genetic makeup.  They were phenotypically superior to anything I’d seen in the states.  They were full of muscle in all the right places, efficient utilizers of grass (easy fleshing), and exhibited the traits for beef quality (tenderness & high butterfat) that I was searching for.

I knew Ken’s Devon bulls could be prominent in rebuilding America’s Devon herds and I was able to strike a deal with Ken to export some of his cows and begin shipments of Rotokawa® semen to the United States.

I also recognized the potential these bulls could have for the breeders of commercial herds that were grass based.operations.  The genetic strength behind these bulls enhances the benefits of hybrid vigor and produces gourmet (fine textured, tender) quality beef with the first generation.  I knew these bulls would and they do create daughters, for the commercial operation, that can produce and reproduce on his/her grass.  It is a matter of strong paternal sires that are still genetically pure that enable these things to happen.  Unfortunately one rarely finds these attributes in a bull bred and raised in America.  Widespread out crossing and crossbreeding has all but eliminated superior sires that can consistently create male calves that are both better then they are and uniformly consistent in all marketable traits.

Many commercial breeders that I work closely with are creating outstanding progeny from using these Rotokawa® bulls on their better cows.  While these Devon bulls have a positive influence on calves coming from cows of other breeds or of mixed decent, it is critical to be selective in what one keeps as seed stock. 

I am not an advocate of crossbreeding, but when proper selection and management is practiced, these quality calves, that cannot be labeled as Devon, are worthy or recognition as being fine cattle for both quality gourmet meat and milk.  Plus they carry with them the ability to pass on the desired genetic traits originating from their Rotokawa® Devon sires.

In recognition of these fine commercial cattle’s ability to complete their growth on a diet of grass and finish for the table in 18-20 months with rave reviews on their quality, the decision was made to give these animals their own breed name.  While the development of this breed is in its infancy, the use of these proven Rotokawa® bulls on the top 10% of the commercial cows herds of those following my Fry Herd Improvement Program are producing some outstanding grass genetic cattle that are commanding attention.  

American Herbataurus (AH) is the name given to these Rotokawa® influenced cattle.  Herba is Greek for grass and Taurus is Greek for bull.  The name says it all.  There are already American Herbataurus bull calves that are worthy of a $5,000 price tag.

The American Herbataurus Society is the registry for these AH cattle, explains and promotes the Fry Herd Improvement Program, and provides information on producing gourmet quality, grass-fed beef.