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 Today
many different cattle breeds roam the plains of the world. All these breeds
stemmed from a single ancestor, the aurochs. Many believe that cattle
where first domesticated in Europe and Asia during the Stone Age. Remains
of domesticated cattle dating to 6,500 B.C. have been found in Turkey
and other sited in the near East. Around 55 B.C. the Romans recorded seeing
red cattle in southwestern England. The red Devon cattle from that area
of England are considered one of the oldest beef breeds in existence today.
In 1623, two Devon heifers and a Devon bull were imported to the Plymouth
Colony from Britain. These three cattle were probably the first purebred
cattle to reach North America. The Texas Longhorn cattle breed stems from
ancestors that were brought to the Americans by early explorers. Texas
Longhorns survived as primitive cattle and occupied the Great Plains following
the destruction of the buffalo herds. Other beef cattle breeds of today
that were among the first to be imported into America are Angus, Hereford,
and Shorthorn.
Today, the United States and Australia are the top beef producing countries
in the world. All 50 states have beef cattle and 30 states each have at
least 10,000 cattle farms and ranches. The United States produces about
25% of the world’s beef supply with less than 10% of the world’s
cattle population.
Over 900 different breeds of cattle have been reported in the world. Breed
associations maintain breed registrations for many of the individual breeds,
with some cattle breeds being able to trace their ancestry back 600 years
or more. Many of the beef cattle produced in the United States today are
crossbred.
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