BREED SOCIETY LINKS

The following website links are for breed societies only, if you breed is not represented please let us know so we can add the link.

Angus Australia
Angus are rapidly becoming the most widespread and keenly sought after temperate beef breed in the world. This expansion is due to the greater profitability which can be achieved using Angus.

Belgian Blue

The Belgian Blue cattle breed is currently one of the most important beef breeds in the world today. Its popularity and acceptance is based initially on the production of an exceptionally lean, high bone out, high yielding carcase.

Belmont Red

In 1954 there was an obvious need in the Australian Tropics for a breed of cattle which would have a more placid temperament, be highly fertile, and utilise the environment and its pastures in the most efficient manner to give high weight gains The Belmont Red was therefore conceived at Belmont Research Station as a composite breed using Africander (African Sanga) and Hereford-Shorthorn (Bos Taurus) to fulfil that need – and further developed by commercial breeders.

Rigid selection for the traits required has resulted in the evolution of a breed of "Australian Made" cattle which has been remarkably successful when compared, under trial conditions with older breeds and their crosses.

Belted Galloway Association

The breed started and was developed in the austere hill country in the Galloway area of south-west Scotland and is believed to have originated more than 300 years ago the result of crossing the Galloway with the Dutch Laken elder.

The "Beltie" is naturally polled and has striking colourings of black, red or dun, with a white belt. For sheer eye appeal, no breed is more distinctive in the paddock and the term "beautiful Belties" is often used. The have a "double coat " of hair, consisting of a long, shaggy overcoat and a soft, thick undercoat, providing excellent insulation in cold, bleak weather and reducing the amount of feed intake required to maintain body weight.

Bonsmara Society

Bonsmara are a tropically adapted Bos taurus breed. Performance recording is the cornerstone of their development. They are the dominant breed in South Africa, where some 60,000 registered females are currently being performance recorded with the commercial and seedstock herds, adding to around 4 million head.

Some 400 Bonsmara embryos were first imported into Australia in 1998 from the Republic of South Africa, followed by semen from the USA.

The genetics are a combination of African and British, forming a very productive breed in their own right, but also offer Australian cattlemen an attractive option as terminal sires with Brahman and Brahman Euro breeders. Research continues to show that on average bos taurus meat is more consumer acceptable than bos indicus meat.

Braford Society
In a beef industry constantly shifting the goal posts, the Braford Breed is hard to beat on all round performance.. A Braford herd is at home in ALL environments. Braford commercial and stud herds are successfully operating under every climatic condition Australia has to offer as well in New Zealand. Proving - Braford's Adaptability. Brafords have a major role to play in offering commercial Hereford and Polled Hereford breeders a hybrid vigour cross without any major colour or type changes. Artificial Insemination is as prominent in the Braford breed as in other breeds and a wide range of quality semen is available for selection.

Brahman Breeders Association
The Brahman breed originated in the United States of America in the early 1900s where it was developed from progeny of four Indian cattle breeds with some infusion of British-bred cattle. Early Australian importations of Brahman-type cattle can be traced back to the turn of the century. However, it was not until 1933 that significant numbers were imported by a syndicate of Queensland cattlemen in conjunction with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, later to become the CSIRO.Further imports of US bloodline Brahmans recommenced in 1982 with the opening of the Australian Government’s Cocos Island Quarantine Station facility. Our Australian Brahman breeders have welcomed this new genetic material. To early 1987, US and Brazilian blood Brahman imports through Cocos Island have topped 300 head with further shipments in the pipeline.

Brangus Cattle Association

The Brangus breed has been developed as a stabilised breed in Australia with commercially orientated breeding programs going back to the early 1950’s. Brangus are designed to retain the strengths of the parent breeds, the Brahman and Angus. Brangus are allowed a variable Bos Indicus content which makes them capable of handling any environment.

Brangus excels in the profitable traits of fertility, easy calving, maternal, heat and parasite tolerance and longevity. These abilities allow Brangus to meet varying production specifications allowing Brangus breeder’s valuable marketing options.

Braunvieh Association

History of the Braunvieh breed of cattle goes back to the central European countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

These adjoining mountainous areas developed the Braunvieh as a pure breed for many centuries. Their origin goes back to short horned cattle of Neolithic marsh type sometimes referred to as the Auroch. Braunvieh could be regarded as one of the oldest pure breeds of cattle in the world. According to records made by monasteries and local government guilds Braunvieh have been kept homogenous for nearly 1000 years. The earliest records are found in stock lists and agricultural ordinances of the monastic foundations of Einsiedeln, Engelberg, Muri and St Gall, dating from the 9th and 10th centuries.

The monasteries levied taxes from their vassals in the form of cattle and dairy products. However, the cattle were not only intended to provide sustenance for the monks, but began to be bartered for grain, salt and other necessaries. Consequently many documents survived from the 14th to 18th century which bear witness to a brisk trade in cattle by the founding cantons in Eastern Switzerland with neighboring countries.

British White

The British White is one of the oldest breeds in Britain and these animals were previously known as Park cattle. Originating at Whalley Abbey in mid – Lancashire, the original herd being dispersed in 1697.

They spread from this area and eventually become concentrated in East Anglia where most of the herds are still centred, although new herds have been established in many other parts of the country.

Charbray Society of Australia
The Charbray breed was established in Texas USA in the 1930s when Charolais bulls from Mexico were crossed with Brahman (bos indicus) cows. The resulting calves weaned heavier, finished faster and carcase quality was unusually high.

Charolais Society of Australia
One of the oldest of the several breeds of French cattle, Charolais was developed in the district around Charolles in Central France. The breed became established there and achieved considerable regard as a producer of highly rated meat in the markets at Lyon and Villefranche in the 16th and 17th centuries. There also is historical evidence that these white cattle were being noticed as early as 878 A.D. The cattle were generally confined to that area until after the French Revolution. However, in 1773, Claude Mathieu, a farmer and cattle breeder from the Charolles region, moved to the Nievre province, taking with him his herd of Charolais.

Chianina Society of Australia

It is believed that the origin of the Chianina began in the Bronze Age at about 1500 BC from animals of Asia and Africa brought into Italy. It can be said that the Chianina are among the oldest, if not the oldest, of purebred bovine breeds.

From the Roman times of 300-200BC the breed was used primarily for draft and sacrificial reasons. With the coming of Christianity and the Middle Ages came also practical times. The Medieval peasant simply could not afford to keep an animal that could not work well and those who could not conform were butchered. This practice may have been the first, albeit rustic, breeding programme.

Composite Beef Breeders Australia
Many of today's breeds that are considered purebreds are actually composites if you go back far enough. Careful planning and selection of British and/or Continental and/or Bos Indicus breeds, and the combining of desirable traits from two or more of these breeds of cattle into one "package", with the purpose of retaining heterosis in future generations without crossbreeding and then maintain them as purebred.

Devon Cattle Breeders’ Society of Australia
Devons are well known to be extremely efficient animals. Their fertility and ability to thrive in harsh conditions means that they can handle a wide range of management situations. Regarded by many top cattlemen to be the beef industry's best kept secret, Devons are indeed FERTILE AND EFFICIENT.

Droughtmaster Society
The Droughtmaster breed was developed in Australia by Australians specifically for Australian conditions.Breeding and growing cattle in the heat and frequent droughts of northern Australia was a substantial challenge to Australia's early pastoralists with their "British-bred" stock, but the arrival of cattle ticks in Queensland in the 1890s created an almost insurmountable barrier to economical beef production in the vast pastoral areas of Northern Australia.During the early 1900s several Queensland cattlemen sought a solution through the crossing of Zebu or Brahman cattle with their existing herds of "British-bred" animals.

Galloway Beef Marketing Association
GALLOWAY, which has given its name to a valuable breed of black or dun polled cattle, was an ancient regality or lordship lying in the south-west of Scotland. The word is derived from Gallovid, which in old Scots signifies "a Gaul". The Gauls are said to have been the first inhabitants of this part of Scotland. The last of the old line of rulers was Alan, Lord of Galloway, who was buried in Dundrennan Abbey in 1233. The title passed into the house of Douglas of Thrieve, and the whole district was finally annexed to the Crown of Scotland in 1455.

Gelbvieh Association
Gelbvieh are the performance + maternal European beef breed. Gelbvieh have a calm and quiet temperament which makes them easy to work with. Gelbvieh females have high milking capacity which they put into their calves. Gelbvieh calves are moderately sized at birth but grow quickly with remarkable daily weight gains and large eye muscle areas. Gelbvieh produce impressive show winning stock that will bring a smile to your face. Gelbvieh cattle are used in many cross-breeding programs around the world for this reason and Gelbvieh are an exceptional cross over British breeds and Tropical Breeds alike. Below are some other famous traits of Gelbvieh cattle.

Herefords Australia Ltd
Feeding cattle is the single, largest variable expense in commercial beef production. Profitability depends on costs and revenue. Hereford cattle can decrease feed requirements and improve feed utilisation to reshape profitability and sustainability for farmers.

Highland Cattle Society
For centuries the Highland breed lived in the rugged remote Scottish Highlands. The extremely harsh conditions that prevailed created a process of natural selection, where only the fittest and most adaptable animals survived to carry on the breed. Originally there were two distinct classes: the slightly smaller and usually black Kyloe, whose primary domain was the islands off the west coast of northern Scotland; the other, a larger animal generally reddish in color, whose territory was the remote Highlands of Scotland.

Holstein Australia
The Holstein Friesian Association of Australia (Holstein Australia) was established in 1914. It is an incorporated association under the Association’s Incorporation Act of Law. The Association exists primarily for the benefit of the Holstein breed and our members, who are approx 2'000 farmers and members generally owning, breeding or having interest in Holsteins. Holstein Australia is a “not for profit” organisation. Our charter is to “provide the world with the most profitable dairy genetics and superior information services”.

Jersey Breeders Society
Jersey Breeders Society

Limousin Society of Australia

The Limousin breed originated in a region of central France - rugged, granite country - where the summers are hot and winters are severe. The documented history of Limousin goes back more than 15,000 years to to an area surrounding the French city of Limoges where rough cave paintings showing the characteristics of the breed have been discovered and carbon dated. The Limousin herd book was established in 1886.

Today the Limousin breed can be found in seventy countries from the northern-most herds of Finland and the Commonwealth of Soviet States to countries such as Cuba, South Africa and China.

Lowline Cattle
Lowline cattle were developed by the NSW Department of Agriculture from registered Angus stock at their research centre in Trangie NSW Australia. The research centre was created in 1929 to provide quality Angus genetics to the NSW cattle industry. Seed stock were purchased from Scotland, Canada, America and selected Australian Studs to form the foundation of the herd. From 1929 to 1963 the Angus herd was prominent in the Australian showing circuit and won many major awards. The research herd was closed to outside genetics in 1964 after the purchase of herd sires from leading Australian Studs, Wambanumba, Glengowan, Tulagi and Wallah.

Maine-Anjou Cattle
To expand the Maine Anjou genetic pool in Australia, French bloodlines in the form of semen and embryos have been recently imported from France. Some of the semen available has been collected for Australian use only, with further imports likely into the future. To access this fresh genetic pool, breeders must be members of the Maine Anjou Society of Australia.

Miniature Hereford

The origin of Miniature Hereford cattle has its roots in Herefordshire, England. The Miniature Hereford we know today are descendants of pure Hereford stock selectively bred since the 1970’s. With the trend at that time being “bigger is better” one particular breeder went against the trend and selectively bred for temperament, hardiness, meat quality and feed conversion.

Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society
The Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society was formed in the early 1960's to register the cattle and to administer the breed, following the successful breeding programs from a number of progressive Murray Grey Breeders. The advent of the Society was the signal for the growth and development of the breed which is unparalleled in Australia, and perhaps the world in the 20th century.

Piedmontese Cattle Breeders Association
Piedmontese originated in the Alpine region of NORTHERN ITALY, called Piedmont a secluded pocket naturally protected by the Alps. AUROCHS, (bos Taurus) an ancient European cattle populated this region. Approximately 25,000 years ago.

Red Poll Society

Australian Quarantine Stock Office records of imports from England, are limited prior to 1891, as they were not consistently kept. However, records show that the Rev. Samuel Marsden was the first person to import Suffolk Duns, Norfolk Reds and Red Polls to Australia sometime in the first decade of the 1800s. He was the most dominant cattle breeder in the colony of NSW at that time.

The first Red Poll Stud was started by the late Hon. James Howlin Graves MLA, former Victorian minister for Customs sometime in the 1870’s from cattle purchased from John B. Docker, who is said to have brought the cattle out from England.

Romagnola
Australian beef producers are recognising the Romagnola for it's ability to adapt and thrive in all environments, with superior fertility and maternal function and to produce beef with excellent eating quality characteristics.

Salers Australia

At birth, Salers calves are typically long and slender and have small heads. This shape is a major contributor to the renowned calving ease of the breed. Birth weights of Salers-sired calves are usually between 30 and 40 kilograms and vary with age, size and breed of the dam.

A Grey Bull Newborn Salers are extremely active and aggressive sucklers. Salers females are usually very conscientious and vigilant mothers, often caring for other calves in the group as well as their own. Dingoes would have great difficulty in taking calves from Salers cows but weighing or tagging a newborn calf rarely presents a problem. The gregarious nature of Salers makes them easy to muster and work through yards.

Santa Gertrudis Breeders Association

Necessity brought about the development of the Santa Gertrudis breed in the United States of America. Through genetic engineering and Australian beef cattle management skills, this has progressed to what is now one of the major true beef breeds of Australia.

King Ranch Australia introduced the breed in 1952 with the importation of 75 bulls and 200 heifers. They established headquarters at Risdon, Warwick, Queensland and offered 12 bulls at public auction on November 14, 1952. King Ranch Australia made a further importation in 1954.

Shorthorn Beef
The Beef Shorthorn has a history tracing back nearly 300 years. The breed has played a dominant role in the development of the beef industry in Australia form the early days of settlement. The origins of the breed can be traced to the Tees River Valley in northern England, where the Teeswater breed evolved from a cross with a Dutch dairy type. Teeswaters were big framed, heavy horned and attained great weight at five to six years. They were highly valued as beef cattle.

Shorthorn Beef Society

Originally known as Durham cattle, the Shorthorn breed first arrived on the shores of Australia in 1799 and since then has been instrumental in making our nation one of the largest producers of beef in the world.

The breed is red, white or roan in colour and the great majority of Shorthorn cattle in Australia are genetically polled. The absence of horns provides for less possible harm to handlers and other cattle and removes any stress associated with dehorning.

The maternal characteristics, freedom from structural faults and excellent meat quality imparted by the purebred Shorthorn have provided a strong genetic base for cross breeding and the development of composite breeds such as Belmont Red, Murray Grey, Santa Gertrudis and Droughtmaster.

Simmental Australia

Simmentals originated in the Simmen valley in Switzerland. Throughout the last 200 years the Simmental breed grew to become Europe's dominant dual purpose beef/milk breed. Over the past 30 years, the Simmental breed spread to other continents, including North and South America, Africa and Australasia, where Simmentals are predominantly used for beef production.

Today, the Simmental breed is present on all continents and with 41 million animals is the second larg-est breed in the world.

Damaras

The Damara is a unique breed of meat sheep ideally suited to our Australian climate. Damaras originated in East Asia & Egypt circa 3000BC and were introduced to Australia from South Africa in 1996. They have adapted to extreme climates and harsh environments as they have migrated to many countries.

Dorper Sheep Australia

The Dorper breed was developed in South Africa in the 1930's by crossing Blackhead Persian ewes with a Dorset Horn ram. They were bred to produce a high quality carcass under extensive conditions. The Breeding program resulted in the development of the black headed and white headed Dorper.

The breed was introduced into Australia in 1996 and has the potential to be developed for domestic and export meat markets.

Merino Stud Breeders

The Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders Limited (AASMB) is the federal association that represents six state Merino organizations and, through them, the approximately 1100 registered studs in all parts of Australia except the Northern Territory.

The principal aims of the Association are to encourage, promote and foster the breeding and improvement of stud Merino and Poll Merino sheep, and to compile and publish a register of Merino and Poll Merino stud sheep in Australia.

SAMM Society of Eastern Australia

South African Mutton Merinos (SAMMs) Originally known as the German Mutton Merino, the first ten ewes and a ram were imported to South Africa from Germany in 1932 by the Department of Agriculture for a breeding programme. Through selection for a better wool quality and conformation, the uniqueness of the South African breed was recognised in 1971 when the breed name was changed to the SA Mutton Merino. Approximately 60 percent of South African sheep are Merino, which produce high yields of fine wool. The SA Mutton Merino is a dual purpose mutton-wool sheep (60:40 mutton to wool), originally bred for its high adaptability to all farming regions in South Africa.

The breed was developed to produce a slaughter lamb at an early age as well as a good quality wool. Lambing percentages in excess of 150% are common and the ewes have ample milk to raise the healthy well-grown lambs. The SA Mutton Merino is a polled breed with the rams having mature masses of 100-110 kg (~220-245 lbs) and the ewes having mature masses of 70-80 kg (~155-175 lbs). Well cared for sheep in show condition will exceed these weights considerably.

Suffolk Society

Adaptable - For all Environments.