DEVONS AT HOME 2010: OBSERVATIONS AFTER A VISIT WITH THE DEVON CATTLE BREEDERS SOCIETY OF ENGLAND
For 10 days in June, 57 Devon enthusiast-visitors were treated to a tour of some 20 English farms where the breeding of the Devon is a passion. We visitors spent a day at the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show where we watched the day’s judging of some beautiful Devon cattle. We came from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the United States. That we were treated with gracious hospitality and enjoyed great fellowship goes without saying. The overall quality of the animals was undeniable. And there was much to learn from observing the farms and animals of our English breed society brethren.
The American visitor quickly sees that there is an ordered uniformity in each individual English herd, existing as a part of a great diversity within the English Devon breed as a whole. While each individual herd shows a distinct stamp reflecting its breeder’s philosophy, these high quality herds are remarkably different one from to the next in genetics and style. This makes the Devon breed in England excitingly alive with different genetics and breeding options from many breeding points-of-view.
English breeders we visited are knowledgeable individuals, each striving for a sustainable farming operation and to stamp a distinctive style across their herds. In general they prefer to run one prized bull with each class of heifers or cows and then sort and cull the progeny and their mothers based on the results. Only a few introduce a wide range of bull genetics at a given time to their herds (Gavin Hunter at Tilbrook Grange being a notable exception).
An active and sometimes emotional debate among breeders in England centering on genetic “purity” vs. up-breeding is underway (not unlike the debates in our country). In the past 30 years there has been significant mixture in England of Salers (and some Red Angus) genetics into Devon herds, primarily to increase size. Today about half the English herds show Salers – influence. A significant number of the most prized English bulls have Salers-influenced genetics somewhere in their ancestry. European common market anti-trust rules require breed societies to accept animals after three generations as “pure” for pedigree purposes.
Fortunately, registry records in England are open and available, so that those interested in “purity” may look back well beyond the pedigree to determine an animal’s more distant genetic makeup. While the question of purity vs. up-breeding is passionately debated in England as it is elsewhere, the English appear to accommodate both philosophies in one registry.
The contrast between this abundance of diverse Devon genetics in England and the current situation in the United States cannot go unnoticed. Until the introduction of Rotokawa semen from New Zealand, the Devon genetics pool in America was limited and was dominated by the Lakota and its predecessor herds. We all should be grateful that in the days when the existence of the Devon breed in America was threatened, the Enghs, among several others, maintained a commitment to these animals. And we all should applaud the recent efforts and investment of the Rotokawa Cattle Company to bring the prize Rotokawa herd to America. It is now and will continue develop into one of the great Devon herds in America. Bravo Ridge Shinn and Chuck Lacy!
But have other NADA breeders made too much of a good thing by trying to duplicate in their herds what Rotokawa’s Ken McDowall has done in the past? (I confess to having 18 Rotokawa-sired animals in my modest herd, including 10 sired by 688.) Of the 1,200 animals in the NADA registry, almost half are first generation Rotokawa- sired. Most of these come from 688 or his son, 93. As second and third-generation Rotokawa offspring are entered into the registry in the next few years, it is quite possible that a majority of our registered animals will be direct descendants of Rotokawa 688. Compared to the English breeding model, this is extraordinary concentration, from one bull’s line within one herd, across our NADA registry and our American Devon breed.
As we observed in England, there are many fine Devon bulls available, whether one’s preference is for “pure” or up-bred animals. There are many fine bulls in Brazil, New Zealand and Australia as well. With modern semen and embryo technology, these Devon lines with prize bulls and cows now located in other countries could provide the basis for individuality in American herds and in the long run vital diversity for the American Devon breed. Rotokawa genetics has and will continue to have a major place here. However, now American breeders have the opportunity to consider exploring other genetic sources, from England and elsewhere, as they set breeding strategies for their herds.
How do we access these genetics? English breeders would take the time and make the effort to clear regulatory hurdles for the semen of their best bulls for export if there was demand from the U.S. market. English vets say exporting embryos to America is even easier. The same is likely true for other countries. Selection of genetics based on each breeder’s judgment of what might work best for his herd should, in this observer’s view, be left to individual American and foreign breeders.
The genius of the English system is its de-centralized selection process. No individual arbiter or small group is dictating what’s best for the Devon breed; rather each breeder exercising his own judgment is developing a herd to reflect his vision. Ultimately these different points of view could result in varied and interesting American herds with truly great bulls, and in a healthy and diverse American Devon breed.
Our American breed associations have a vital role in making this all possible. No individual American breeder should have to take the risk that progeny of a bull registered in one of the other great Devon-breeding countries will not be considered suitable for registration in the NADA registry or in the registry of any other Devon breed association. It is incumbent upon NADA to reach out to ADCA and together open discussions with our foreign colleagues to fully understand breed registration rules and standards in other Devon-breeding countries. Hopefully a common standard can be established for the American registries. This will encourage American breeders to access the wonderfully diverse Devon genetics we observed in England, and which are no doubt available elsewhere. And then American breeders will improve and enliven our Devons at home.
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