Jersey cattle in United States

Jersey cattle are the smallest of the dairy breeds in the United States. Jersey calves weight about 55 lb at birth. The Jersey breed was originated on the Isle of Jersey, which is located in the English Channel off the coast of France. It is not known what cattle were the source of the breeding stock that was developed into the Jersey breed.

Jersey cattle probably, first came to the United States in the 1815. The major importations occurred between 1870 an 1890.

The first Jersey cattle registered by the American Jersey Cattle Club were imported in 1850. It was brought to America by Samuel Henshaw. In that year several Jersey cattle were imported to Hartford, Conn, and in 1868 S.S. Stephens of Montreal, Canada, imported nine animals, from which have descended some of the most famous producers in the Jersey breed.

Since 1868 the importations were numerous until about 1890, and then few were brought over for several years.
Jersey cattle in United States

American Wagyu

Wagyu is a breed of cattle originally raised in Kobe, the capital city of Japan’s Hyogo prefecture.

Considered a national treasure, Wagyu (the name means ‘Japanese cattle’) yield the tender high-fat (but moderately cholesterol), delicacy better known among gourmets as Kobe beef.

Extreme marbling qualifies this particular beef for a top grading. The most desirable grade has 50 percent more marbling than American prime beef.

A breed of cattle first imported to North America in the late 1970s and often interbred with Blank Angus heifers. Any animal with a bloodline of 15/16ths or more of Wagyu blood can be considered full-blooded Wagyu.

American Wagyu is a more correct term for the beef, since it refers to the breed. The American Wagyu cattle crosses take longer to mature than other breed and are thus more expensive to raise.

The best producers feed their animals well - a natural diet including barley and hay.

USDA requires that the animal be at least 50 percent Wagyu and remain in the feedlot for at least 350 days to receive these designations.
American Wagyu

Character of Beef Industry

Character of Beef Industry
The cattle feeding industry in United States has shift in recent years from its formerly heavy concentration in the Cornbelt to the central and Southern Plains states.

Most of the high capacity feedlots are found in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. There is a trend toward custom feeding cattle in large feedlots, with cow calf operators retaining ownership of the cattle.

Other changes occurring in the beef industry include:

• Efforts to lower unit production cost
• Development of closer coordination of breeding, growing, feeding, marketing and processing operations, generally through, contracts rather than through the vertical integration that is found in the poultry industry.
• Greater quality control in production in an effort to reduce the amount of fat in beef and produce carcasses with the characteristics in demand in the marketplace.
• A growing interest in the concept of Integrated Resource Management to increase net income by making the most efficient use of all available resources.

Raising beef has the following advantages:

• Beef use roughages that otherwise would be wasted for feed
• Labor requirements may be low
• Capital investment can be small
• Death losses are usually low
• Beef are adapted for use un small operations as well as large ones
• There is high demand for most

Disadvantages of rising beef include the following factors:

• Cattle feeding is a high risk business
• Cattle are not efficient converters of concentrated feeds into meat.
• It takes longer to develop a cattle herd and increase numbers than it does to develop hogs or sheep.
• The capital investment in modern, efficient operations can be high

Character of Beef Industry

History of cattle in United States

Cattle are not native to the United States, Christopher Columbus brought cattle to the New World on his second voyage in 1493. Texas longhorn can be traced back when Christopher Columbus landed in Santo Domingo with Spanish cattle.

Cattle were essential to the survival of the Spaniards in Mexico; the animals furnished meat, leather, and tallow. Descendents of these cattle were brought to the United States from Mexico in 1521.

More cattle were brought by Portuguese traders in 1553. The English were the first to bring large numbers of cattle to the United States with the founding of the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1611.

The first cattle imported into New England form England were those brought over in 1620 for the Massachusetts Bay Company.

About the same time the Danes imported cattle from Denmark into New Hampshire and the Swedes made importations from Sweden, in Delaware as early as 1630.

In 1821, Mexico gained independence, homesteaders and ranchers from the United States poured into Texas, bringing their cattle with them. When Texas won its independence from Mexico 15 years later, thousands more American began moving south.

In 1900 the vast majority of beef cattle in the United States of America were Shorthorn, Hereford or Angus. The first meat packing plant in America was founded by William Pynchon in 1640 near Springfield.
History of cattle in United States

Friesian cow

Friesian cattle came originally from the north-west of the Netherlands – in particularly, Friesland. The earliest settlers from the Netherlands brought the first Friesian cattle to the United States. The most significant importation was in 1861.

In the United Kingdom in 1908 there were fewer than forty herds of Friesians. Within five years there were three hundred breeders and by the late 1940s the black and whites had become Britain’s dominant dairy breed.

The cattle commonly called Holstein in North America and Friesian in many other countries.

The Friesians are the largest of the dairy breeds. A mature cow in milk should weight about 1500 pounds. A mature bull in breeding condition should weigh about 2000 pounds.

The outstanding characteristic of the Friesian is it milking ability. The breed has dominated production in North America and Europe for many years and advances in artificial insemination have increased it popularity worldwide.

In the 20th century, the cattle from this region were developed into the highest-yielding dairy cow breed in the world. Nearly all cattle are black and white, although a few are red and white.
Friesian cow