The Truth About Devon Frame Score

Over the past several years there have been several men who have preached the message of “proper frame scores” in beef cattle with the commitment and intensity of evangelists. Gearld Fry, Kit Pharo and Teddy Gentry are three cattlemen who have been mentors for me through their writings and personal contact. It is with great appreciation, recognition and tribute to them (and Jan Bonsma) that I pass along some of my observations about this business of frame scores.

I did not come to this dance without preconceived notions. In the mid-seventies, I was herdsman for an Angus operation in Union, Ohio. We had 50 registered cows for seed stock sales and 50 commercial Angus cows that we A.I.’d to a variety of exotic breed sires for show calves. One night, at the Dayton Fairgrounds at the end of the last show of the season, I walked in to the last class of the show. Coincidentally, it was also my last year at the farm. If the word “last” jumps out at you, you are getting the drift of the message.

I was leading a low frame score Gelbvieh/Angus market heifer built like a brick blockhouse. She was thick, wide and deep with muscling bulging out in all the right places. The only other entry showing cattle that late at night was leading a very tall, boney, slab-sided Holstein cross heifer that looked more like an elk calf than Bos Taurus. After making like he actually looked and cared, the judge slapped the rump of the Holstein bag of bones on stilts. I concluded the show committee really did not need a judge; they only needed a yardstick. I have never entered a show ring to show cattle since. When form does not relate to function, bias or insanity is at the root. It was easier for me to change than it was to change the system based on size that was evolving in the industry.

In 2004 at the first GrazeFest in Montgomery, Alabama, the logic of smaller frame scores reinforced my past experience. It was there that I ran into my mentors, all under one roof: Fry, Gentry and Pharo. And it was there that I concluded that Red Devon cattle were the cattle to focus on for my re-entry to grass cattle production. Since then, I have raised about 100 Devon and seen hundreds more, enough to draw some personal conclusions.

Travels in England to observe six top Devon herds set a standard in my mind of what the Devon was designed to be. The purists there raise thick, deep and wide cattle that place the mature cows at about 48 to 50 inches at the hip height and weigh 1000 to 1200 pounds. The bulls usually ranged from 52 to 56 inches and weighed 1400 to 2000. The more traditional the breeder, the smaller the frame score of the cattle.

These hip heights for both the cows and bulls correspond to frame scores of 3 to 5. I did see other herds where there was a trend toward larger, feedlot style cattle. Some of the breeders have even incorporated Salers blood up to 1/8 of the genetic make-up with the blessing of the UK Devon Association. These were excellent looking cattle that still carried the great finishing capacity but they definitely tended to be taller than their more traditional counterparts.

The Rotokawa Stud from New Zealand was in evidence in one of the most successful show herds in the UK. These cattle were 20 to 30% larger than the rest of the herd mates in every area of measurement. They also were exhibiting as thick a fat cover on grass as any animals I saw on the trip. I might add, I saw no poor pastures on the trip. The rye grass was very lush and well managed everywhere I went.

I want to express two main observations and deductions that I have taken away from these four plus years researching Devon cattle. One is that frame score is an indicator of ability to finish on grass but is not an absolute law. I have observed some larger frame score Devon we have had that can stay as fat on fair quality grass as well as the smaller framed cattle. That being said, it still takes more grass to get there. Recognizing that a cow will consume about 2.25% of its body weight in feed per day on a dry matter basis, the larger the cow the more feed she requires. She still may stay fat on grass but it will be at a price.

Teddy Gentry has some great data on cost of feed to finish different frame score cattle that definitely states a case for the smaller frame score cattle even if the larger cattle can finish and one has the feed available. Profits are dependent of efficiency. I have concluded that a frame score of 2.5 to 4.5 is well within the breed standard, quite available within the breed and an optimum hip height for our operation.

Point number two is how to achieve these frame scores. While the breed standard falls right within the aforementioned range, most of nature falls within a bell curve. The majority will be in the middle with fewer individuals at either extreme. When EPD’s dictate selection, the bell curve is skewed and the norm becomes abnormal. Such is the case with many breeds of cattle within the US.

Even though the Devon breed is more aboriginal than most today, it is not without man’s intervention as I mentioned with the Salers introduction in England to gain height and length. In Australia, the bull Buckeye was reported to be the largest of all breeds shown at the biggest cattle show a few years back. Great bull but man there is a lot of him. If a cow is going to be about 2/3 the weight of her sire, a 2800 pound bull will produce 1850 pound cows.

The key to keeping the bell curve normal was articulated very succinctly to me by Graham Barnes of Barnstaple Stud in Australia. He stated that they had little bulls to breed to big cows and big bulls to breed to little cows. Simple plan but it is the key to maintaining the Devon’s traditionally optimum frame score. We must strive for an optimum size but not rule out the extremes so we have a balance to breed to so we can arrive back at the middle of the curve. Therefore, I do not totally discount the small frame score or the large frame score. What is optimum can depend on the type of operation, the soil and forage. The population as a whole is drawn upon to keep the bell curve normal for the breed.

Most of our Devon cows fall in the 2.5 to 4.5 frame score with one of our best at a 1 (44”). Our bulls generally fall in the 2 to 3 frame score but one weighs a ton. Weight does not have to be greatly sacrificed for hip height. My personal plan is to be a contrarian. Most producers tend toward the taller extreme naturally. We have been blessed with two herd purchases that contained very well muscled smaller framed Devon. We hope to be a source of Devon cattle that provide the smaller frame balance to herds that tend toward the ever popular taller cattle. By everyone finding their niche, the wonderfully adaptable Devon will maintain its normal bell curve of frame scores that are optimum for efficient maintenance and finishing on grass.

Finally, I acknowledge a debt not only to the mentors mentioned above but to the then PhD candidate, David P. Kirsch of Cornell University who guided me to the BIF guidelines and to Dr. Danny Fox of Cornell who put together the field data that Kit Pharo has used as a standard in his crusade for proper framed cattle. Thank God for all these pioneers for positive change!