If you farm Bonsmaras, you already farm a little Shorthorn.
Before the Second World War the Department of Agriculture went looking for a beef animal that could produce in the hot, tick-ridden bushveld. The Afrikaner was hardy but slow to grow and to reach puberty; the British breeds did well in temperate country but struggled with the heat and the tick-borne diseases. At Mara and Messina, bulls of five British breeds were tried over Afrikaner cows. Only the Hereford and Shorthorn crosses were kept, and the breed was fixed at about five-eighths Afrikaner and three-eighths Hereford or Shorthorn. The early crossbred cows weaned calves about 20% heavier than the three parent breeds. Prof. Jan Bonsma and the farm Mara gave the breed its name, and a 2016 DNA study by ARC scientists confirmed its Afrikaner, Hereford and Shorthorn make-up.
The Bonsmara is far from the only one:
- Santa Gertrudis (Texas): bred on the King Ranch by putting Brahman-cross bulls over some 2 500 Shorthorn cows.
- Droughtmaster (Queensland): about half Shorthorn and half Brahman.
- Beefmaster (Texas): Brahman, Hereford and Shorthorn.
- Belmont Red (Australia): Africander, Hereford and Shorthorn.
- Murray Grey (New South Wales): started in 1905 with one roan Shorthorn cow that threw grey calves to Angus bulls.
- Luing (Scotland): Beef Shorthorn crossed with Highland.
The breed society counts 52 composite breeds with Shorthorn in them.
Breeders building a new breed have reached for the Shorthorn again and again, for the same reasons we like them: fertility, milk and a carcase that eats well. Our own Shorthorn / Bonsmara work puts the Shorthorn back into a breed it helped to make, and we are keen to see where it goes.
Source: Oklahoma State University, Breeds of Livestock: Bonsmara
Source: Oklahoma State University: Santa Gertrudis
Source: Oklahoma State University: Droughtmaster
Source: Oklahoma State University: Beefmaster
Source: Oklahoma State University: Belmont Red
Source: Oklahoma State University: Murray Grey
Source: Oklahoma State University: Luing
Source: Farmer’s Weekly, “Beef Shorthorn: a breed made for crossbreeding!”, January 2023