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Beefmaster is a breed of beef cattle that was developed in the early 1930s from a crossing of Hereford and Shorthorn cattle with Brahman stock.
The exact mixture of the foundation cattle is unknown, but is thought to be about 25% Hereford, 25% Shorthorn and 50% Brahman. It was the second new breed of cattle registered in the United States. The original intention was to produce cattle that could produce economically in the difficult environment of South Texas. The cattle were selected by using the Six Essentials – weight, conformation, milking ability, fertility, hardiness and disposition. Though there are no standards for color, most are red, however others are paint, dun, roan, white, brown, tan, or black.
Characteristics
The breed is recognized as a "Dual Purpose" breed, meaning Beefmaster blend strong maternal traits with excellent growth and carcass abilities. The cattle are heat, drought and insect resistant. They are moderate in size, and while there is no set color pattern in the breed, they are generally light red to dark red and some will have white mottle on their faces. The females are excellent mothers, raising a heavy calf each year, and the bulls are aggressive breeders. Beefmaster is intelligent, gentle cattle that are truly a pleasure to work with.
The thing that probably most differentiates Beefmaster cattle from other breeds is the Six Essentials, which were the founding selection principles on which the breed was formed: Disposition, Fertility, Weight, Conformation, Hardiness and Milk Production. The concept was that you select for cattle only based on these six traits of economic relevance, to the exclusion of many traits that other breeds have expended genetic energy on like color pattern, horns, height, etc. This unique approach is why Beefmasters are known by the slogan "The Profit Breed."
You can expect minimal calving problems, heavy weaning weights, exceptionally few health problems, and high fertility from females and bulls. While the breed was created to withstand the Gulf Coast heat and diseases, Beefmasters can take heat and cold. Furthermore, their heat tolerance causes many cattlemen to comment that while their other cattle are standing in ponds or lying under shade trees, Beefmasters will be grazing. Beefmaster bulls have few equals when asked to service cows grazing endophyte-infected fescue in hot weather. Likewise, their heat tolerance makes Beefmaster cows more likely to settle in extremely hot weather, especially when grazing fescue. In addition, pinkeye is extremely rare for Beefmaster cattle. No breed offers greater hardiness, fertility, and milk under a wider range of conditions.
