Dairy Shorthorn recognised as a breed at risk
A significant step forward in the RBI Dairy/Milking Shorthorn Project has been recognition of the Dairy Shorthorn as a ‘breed at risk’ in UK, its country of origin. Representations now will be made to Defra to ensure that only purebred animals will be eligible for appropriate incentive payments. It also will be important to monitor not only that purebred animals are clearly identified by the breed society in the main register of Coates Herd Book, but also that they are given priority support as befits the responsibility of a breed society to maintain the purity of the breed.
How did the Dairy/Milking Shorthorn, a breed of great historic importance and dominant in the UK until the mid-twentieth century, become critically endangered so quickly? There may have been some illicit introgression, but a major cause of its endangered status is introgression which has occurred as a result of crossbreeding programmes pursued officially at breed society level, such as the Blended Red & White programme in UK which began in 1970. Owing to an apparent inability or unwillingness by other parties to deal with the problem, RBI launched its project in 2011 with partners in UK, Ireland, France, USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa.
The early phase of the project identified the numbers of purebred cattle in various national populations, together with the stocks of semen. Welcome cooperation has been given from the breed societies in Ireland, USA and Australia, although lack of electronic data is a hindrance in some cases, but it has proved difficult to obtain details in other places where there is a commitment to crossbreeding. The current estimate of the global population of purebred animals is less than 1,000 breeding cows. The list of purebred breeding cows and donors of semen is nearing completion and details will be published shortly.
We request anyone who has information about purebred Dairy/Milking Shorthorn cattle to contact the RBI Secretariat with details rbisecretariat@mail.com