They are moderate in size, and while there is no set colour pattern in the breed, they are generally light red to dark red and some will have white mottle on their faces. The cattle are heat, drought and insect resistant. The breed is recognised as a "Dual Purpose" breed, meaning Beefmasters blend strong maternal traits with excellent growth and carcass abilities. Department of Agriculture as a pure breed in 1954. The Beefmaster is now the fourth largest beef breed in the US and were recognized by the U.S. Satisfaction by ranchers and creditable performance in feedlots indicate the value of stressing the important utilitarian points in developing breeding herds. Considerable progress has been made in selecting cattle that give very satisfactory levels of production under the practical and often severe range conditions. Selection continues for those points which were originally used by Mr Lasater and are now known as the Six Essentials - Weight, Conformation, Milking Ability, Fertility, Hardiness and Disposition. The original concepts of Tom Lasater in developing Beefmaster cattle have continued. Critics should recall that other breeds have been established in a similar way - a blending of breeding followed by selection for economically important points uniformity in many breeds has been achieved only after many generations of selection. The Lasater Ranch breeding program provided an interesting example of the use of mass selection in reaching a goal. No selection has been made to characteristics that do not affect the carcass, such as horns, hide or colour. Stress was placed on the production of beef. The cattle were handled under range conditions that were often adverse, and a culling program was started based on disposition, fertility, weight, conformation, hardiness and milk production. The Lasater Ranch estimates that modern Beefmaster have slightly less than one-half Brahman blood and slightly more than one-fourth of Hereford and Shorthorn breeding. The breeding operations were carried on in multiple-sire herds and rigid culling was practiced. The exact pedigree of the foundation cattle was not known. After making crosses of Brahman-Hereford and Brahman-Shorthorn, he felt a superior animal had been produced and called the cattle Beefmaster. Following his death in 1930, the breeding operations came under the direction of his son, Tom Lasater, who began to combine the breeding of the Brahman and Hereford cattle and also used some registered Shorthorn bulls. In both his Brahman and Hereford breeding, milk production was stressed. Lasater also developed a registered Hereford herd in which the cattle had red circles around each eye. In 1925 he introduced Guzerat blood into the herd. The first of these bulls that he used were principally of Gir breeding, although some of the Nelore breed were also used. Lasater in 1908, when he purchased Brahman bulls to use on his commercial herd of Hereford and Shorthorn cattle (Beefmaster cattle are 50% Brahman, 25% Hereford, and 25% Milking Shorthorn). The breeding program leading to their establishment was started by Ed C. These cattle have been developed by the Lasater Ranch then headquartered in Texas. Beefmaster cattle are the first American composite breed (combination of three or more breeds).
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