TEXAS LONGHORNS: A SYMBOL OF WESTERN HERITAGE AND BREED OF ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT TRAITS FOR THE BEEF CATTLE INDUSTRY
by Dr. Bob Kropp, Oklahoma State University
Chairman, Breed Advisory Committee -- Texas Longhorn Breeders' Association of America

Evolution is a strange and wonderful process that has been responsible for the creation of a multitude of forms and shapes in the kingdom of nature - forms and shapes that are unique to their time and totally adaptable to the environment in which they evolved. The Texas Longhorn is such a creature.

The Texas Longhorn, an evolutionary marvel, traces its history from Texas to Mexico, to Spain and finally back to Africa. Columbus landed cattle in Santa Domingo in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World, and 29 years later in 1521, Gregorio de Villalobos brought the first cattle from Santa Domingo to Mexico. Explorers, settlers, and expeditions to establish missions brought cattle into Texas. These cattle propagated as they escaped, were scattered by Indians, or abandoned when missions failed.

Thus began the second phase of the evolutionary process that began as these cattle were put aboard ships. Space limitations allowed for a minimum of food and water, and as days at sea lengthened into weeks, the elements took a great toll on animals totally unaccustomed to the conditions. It is probable that the losses were extreme, and hardiness, a major trait of today's cattle, first began to function as a genetic trait.

The crucible of evolution and its nursery was between the Rio Grande and the Nueces Rivers of Texas. Texas Longhorns were unique in that they could be fattened on the trail. A trickle of the flood that was to follow began in 1846 when the first documented drive to Missouri occurred. These cattle were held in Ohio that winter and sent to eastern markets in 1847.

During the 1850s, sporadic drives of probably less than 1,000 cattle each were moved north. By 1860 the census recorded 31 million people and 26 million cattle in Texas. However, when the Civil War closed the northern markets, the trail drives were turned to the east and Texas beef began to supply the Confederacy. The eastern drives had many new and different obstacles. The rivers, swamps, and vast timbered areas were extremely difficult to negotiate, and the herds were consequently smaller than those that were driven north over the open prairies. The northern movement of Texas Longhorns was resumed after the Civil War because the demand for beef had driven the price of sirloin steak in New York to the exorbitant price of $0.25 to $0.35 a pound.

In 1866, over 260,000 head were moved up the trail to Kansas and Missouri, but less than half reached their destination. The herds were driven by cowboys, many of which were in their teens, 14 to 19 years of age. They faced constant hazards from storms, floods, Indians, and those who would steal the herds.

The trickle that had begun in 1846 became a flood, as over 10,000,000 cattle were sent over the northern trails before they were closed. More than 700,000 cattle were driven north in 1871, the year of maximum effort. The trail herds of the 1860s and 70s probably averaged 2,000 to 2,500 cattle. They were driven by about 12 men or boys, a "boss" driver, and a cook. The cowboys received an average of one dollar per day and with the traveling rate of 10 to 12 miles per day, were on the trail for a minimum of two months.

Nature produces animals that all possess a single common denominator, environmental adaptability. It is this common denominator that is sometimes called survival of the fittest. Nature is a harsh master; if you cannot adapt, you perish.

The evolutionary process created a breed of cattle that had a body size commensurate with the availability of food, a breed of cattle that developed horns for protection, allowing the dominate males to propagate the breed. Polled or non-horned cattle did not survive.

Thus was created the Texas Longhorn, imported into Texas, defined and refined by nature, tested by the crucible of time, found not wanting, responsible for the economic recovery of a Sovereign State after the Civil War and finally in a few short years, man in his infinite wisdom did begin, in his opinion, to "improve" these fine cattle and improved them to the point of near extinction. This improvement began with the importation of bulls of "new" breeds from England and Europe. The mating of Texas Longhorn cows to these bulls and the resulting crossbred progeny bred back to similar bulls increased the "beefiness and fleshingability" of the cattle. In the space of only four generations, the traits that had evolved through decades of natural selection of Texas longhorns under range conditions began their swift decline into obscurity.

The Texas Longhorn was nearer extinction than the buffalo or the whooping crane, when in 1927, the federal government appropriated $3,000 for the requisition and preservation of a herd of Texas Longhorns. U. S. Forest Service employees, John H. Hatton and Will C. Barnes traveled for over seven years through Texas and Mexico to discover and acquire 20 cows, 4 calves, and 3 bulls with which to develop a herd that was the remains of some 40,000,000 cattle in Texas only 60 years before. Thus, the development and maintenance of a once proud breed was placed in the hands of the federal government at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Cache, Oklahoma. Despite the scarcity of good bulls, soon the WR herd had grown to 67 head. Today the WR program represents, to many, one of the finest herds of Texas Longhorn cattle in the world. What began as a careful and well-documented, yet nonetheless hurried, effort to preserve the Texas Longhorn breed developed into an extremely sophisticated cattle-breeding program. The WR herd numbers 32 bulls, 148 cows and 100 steers that all trace back to the original 27 head purchased in 1927.

By 1964 with over 2,500 Texas Longhorns in the United States, the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America was created to preserve the cattle and perform the registration requirements to maintain a herd book and follow the ancestry. Today the membership totals over 3500 members and a total registry of over 200,000 head.

Thus, the breed was created, evolved, became virtually extinct, and seemed to be relegated to being preserved only for their historical significance and heritage when a new awareness of the significance of their genetic capabilities became dominant in the mid 1970s. The Texas Longhorn developed many traits, genetically coded into its being, that have many viable economic benefits that can be utilized by today's beef producer:

• LONGEVITY - a result created by the fact that the longer-lived cattle produced greater numbers of offspring and gradually infused this genetic component into the breed.
  
• CALVING EASE - the natural result of calving difficulties causing the early and swift demise of those cows that did not give birth easily and without undue problems.
  
• DISEASE AND PARASITE RESISTANCE - a subtle but important attribute. Susceptibility to disease and parasites soon depleted that type of cattle.
  
• BROWSE UTILIZATION - the sometimes harsh environment, that was the nursery of evolution, demanded that the cattle do well in times of drought as well as in times of plenty.
  
• HARDINESS - a trait directly connected to "survival of the fittest.
  
• FERTILITY - a genetic trait dominant in evolution of a species. A species is fertile, or it dies out.

The cattle industry began to appreciate the value of the genetic traits possessed by the Texas Longhorn and making use of them through the use of F-1 or one-half Texas Longhorn brood cows. This combination, when bred to a bull of yet another breed, produces a three-way cross calf that is a complete product.

Jim Hutchinson of Berryville, Virginia is a dedicated Texas Longhorn breeder as well as a commercial cattleman involved in a fully integrated USDA - certified natural beef company (Shenandoah Natural Beef, Inc.) which breeds, backgrounds, feeds, processes and sells retail/wholesale natural beef to supermarkets, restaurants and direct to the consumer. His main concern is not the color of the hide or the length of the horns, but how much it costs to maintain a cow, raise a calf to weaning, how fast the calf will gain on pasture and how well the calf feeds, yields when slaughtered and whether the final product-BEEF- is tender, juicy and flavorful!

The goal of most Texas Longhorn breeders that would like to see the Texas Longhorn cattle have a greater impact on the future of the beef cattle industry is simply to maximize the positive influence of Texas Longhorns on the beef industry and to do so in a way which increases the value of registered Texas Longhorn cattle. Given the demographics of the beef industry and the positive and negative characteristics of the Texas Longhorn breed, it appears that the Texas Longhorns can have their greatest impact on the American beef cattle industry by using them in commercial crossbreeding programs. Today's consumer is demanding a leaner, highly trimmed, but palatable portion of beef. Packers, feeders and commercial cow-calf producers are now focusing more consumer needs and desires as far as carcass specifications are concerned. By utilizing the desirable genetic characteristics of Texas Longhorn cattle, Mr. Hutchinson has been able to produce a commercial cow that will wean 50% of her body weight in calf and the calf will grade Choice with a minimal amount of external fat deposition. Animal scientists across the country as well as successful commercial cow-calf producers have long been proponents of crossbreeding to increase the efficiency of beef production. He has found that a basic English bred cow bred to a well-muscled Texas Longhorn bull will produce an excellent F-i replacement female. Other outstanding results have been found by crossing Salers, Gelbvieh and Simmental to Longhorn cattle. Regardless, the mating of a F-1 Texas Longhorn crossbred female to a bull of a third breed to produce a three way cross feeder steer has been ideal for his operation. Data from the USDA Meat Animal Research Center, Texas A&M and other Texas Longhorn breeders have shown that Fl and three way cross steers possessing Longhorn blood have performed well, while producing well marbled carcasses with little fat trim.

The Hudson Ranch near Manhattan, Kansas is one of the largest and best-known commercial cattle operations in eastern Kansas. Covering over 10,000 acres of some of America's best agricultural land, the Hudson Ranch carries 1000 cow/calf pairs and summers over 500 yearling annually. In 1978, the owners of the ranch went in search for bulls to breed their first calf heifers. After researching several breeds, the decision was made to use Texas Longhorns primarily because of their calving ease. The manager of the ranch, Dave McKinney, was against the idea. He commented, "I thought that we could get the same calving ease with a small Angus or something. When they started keeping the Fl heifers, I really had a negative attitude. But after they had their third calf, I began to see that these cows were doing a good job. They had even udders; the calves were kind of even coming off of them, and they provided a real rich milk that produced a real nice looking set of calves.

Dave is a graduate of Kansas State University in Animal Science and Industry with an emphasis in Beef Production. Shortly after taking over as manager, Dave put some of his schooling to use by doing a study. The Hudson Ranch herd is divided into three separate groups. They had some primarily Angus, Angus/Hereford cross cows that they put with Charolais bulls. The second herd consisted of British/Charolais cows that they placed with Simmental bulls. The third herd was a herd of Texas Longhorn cross cows that were placed with Simmental bulls.

The study was conducted over a three-year period. "In each group we had a control group so that they were all pretty much treated the same," Dave explained.

"We weighed the calves at birth, at 45 days, at 100 days, and at 210 days," he continued. "The Longhorn calves at the end of 45 days were always the lightest calves. That's about what you would expect. But, what we found was that at the end of 210 days, they had actually caught up." In each of the three years, the calves out of the Longhorn cross cows had the highest average daily gain (ADG).

Other genetic traits that the Texas Longhorn seems to throw into a crossbreeding program were high fertility and continued calving ease. In each of the six years that McKinney has been managing the ranch, "the Longhorn cows have had the highest conception rate. The other two herds will run 94% to 95% which is pretty good. But, the Longhorn cattle will run 96% or better. They just breed back better."

And when it comes to calving ease, "even with the half Longhorn cow bred to a Simmental bull, we just don't have any problem. They'll have 70 to 75 pound calves even out of bulls whose records predict 100 lb. calves."

"In fact," he announced, "we get a little reckless with the bulls we put on the Longhorns. If we have a bull that has a history of problems or maybe he has a record of 110 lb. calves, we just make sure he goes with our Longhorn cows."

"The bonus is not having to be out there baby sitting them during calving season!" he said with relief.

So what's the future of the Texas Longhorn on the Hudson Ranch? "Over the next year or so I expect it will expand to about a third of the herd McKinney predicted. We've got about 600 head of yearlings bred to the Longhorn bulls this year, and I imagine we'll have a good number to pick from for replacements."

Has Dave's attitude changed about the Texas Longhorn? At a sale held in Manhattan this past spring he was overheard to say, "When we first started using the Longhorns, we kept the calves in the back and sent them to market separate from our other cattle. After working with them for the past few years, now we' re bragging about them!"

What commercial cattlemen would pass up the opportunity to own a small to moderate sized cow (900-1100 lb) which eats less, lives longer is extremely fertile and produces over 50% of her body weight in a calf that grades Choice with minimal external fatness.

The Texas Longhorn has become a symbol of survival. It evolved, prospered, was brought to the brink of extinction, recovered, and is now on the way of again becoming one of the world's most useful breeds of cattle.