British White

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The British White is a British cattle breed dating back at least as far as the 16th Century. It is a naturally polled (hornless) breed, fairly large but compactly built. It has shortish white fur with black points: ears, feet, eyelids, nose and often even teats. There may be some black spots on the body. The skin beneath the fur is usually black or spotted with black. In a few animals the black fur and skin is replaced with red. This colour-pointed pattern is found in many unrelated cattle breeds throughout the world – it is an extreme pale form of the similarly widespread colour-sided or lineback pattern. The British White differs from the White Park in that it is polled, slightly more compact, and usually with a little more colour on the points.

Formerly the British White was a dual-purpose animal, producing both beef and milk, but the modern focus for the animal is for meat production. The dual-purpose heritage means that many cows are good milk producers, allowing calves to grow very well when the cows' diet consists of grass alone. British Whites are also able to thrive on very poor pasture such as marshland and heathland, making them suitable for use in managing natural pasture habitats of high nature conservation value. The animals can become very tame – sometimes becoming so much so that herding them becomes difficult and they must be led using feed as bait.

White cattle are believed to have been highly regarded in Britain and Ireland in very early times, and herds of white cattle were kept as ornamental and sporting animals in enclosed parks for many centuries. These park cattle included both horned and polled individuals – they gave rise to the horned White Park cattle, and certainly contributed to the origins of the polled British White. However, British Whites are not as genetically distinct from other British breeds as White Parks, and so there is some doubt about their origins. As for many breeds with uncertain origins, it has been suggested that the original stock may have been transferred to the British Isles by Vikings, and there are at least superficial similarities with Scandinavian breeds such as the Swedish Mountain cattle. They are also somewhat similar to a colour-sided Irish breed, the Irish Moiled.

Records indicate a herd of polled white cattle in Northern England in the 17th century. These cattle were kept in the Park of Whalley Abbey, in the Forest of Bowland near Clitheroe. After that time, the major portion of the herd was moved to Norfolk, in the early 1800s. This herd was sold off in small lots, largely to nobility in the surrounding countryside. By the early 20th century the breed had declined to about 130 registered animals, mainly in the eastern counties of England, but since then numbers have recovered with perhaps 2,500 in the US, and many in other parts of the world such as Australia. In the UK the Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists it as a "minority" breed, with less than 1500 registered breeding females.[1]

An impending invasion by Germany in 1941 caused concern in Britain about Hitler's intentions. It was feared that Hitler might try to destroy the breed entirely.[citation needed] Five cows and one bull were shipped to a prison farm in Pennsylvania. These and other bulls shipped from England and other animals imported from Australia formed the basis of the British White breed in North America.

British White female
British White female

[edit] North America

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In the United States the first breed registry for these cattle was formed or incorporated in the state of Iowa as a not for profit corporation on 23 October 1975 under the name of the "White Park Cattle Association of America" as corporation number 64755.[2]

Not unlike the Park Cattle Society in Great Britain circa 1918 - 1940's this new association recorded both horned and polled animals in the same herdbook.

On 16 December 1987 a group of breeders headed by Tom Zimmerman spun off from the "White Park Cattle Association of America" and started the "British White Cattle Association of America, LTD." Also an Iowa not for profit corporation number 119073. See the public records on line at the Iowa Secretary of State website. Search Databases/Iowa Corporations.

Not unlike the "British White Cattle Society of England" that was formed in the 1940's as a result of the split within the "Park Cattle Society" the "British White Cattle Association of America, LTD" was for polled animals only.

Also in the United States there is another organization that records only the horned cattle. This group is headquartered at the B Bar M ranch in Montana.

In the 1990's the Oklahoma State University started their Breeds Of Livestock website. Apparently in an attempt to keep down confusion and properly identify cattle recorded by each of these three associations they became known as American White Park[3], White Park [4] and British White[5].

This helped to better identify the animals recorded by each group but did not totally eliminate the confusion.

During the early to mid 1990's there were discussions and negotiations between the boards of the "White Park Cattle Association" and the "British White Cattle Association" researching for enough common ground to merge the groups into one association and register only polled cattle. These talks eventually failed because the "White Park Association" group wanted to keep "Park" in the name and the "British White Cattle Association" group felt it should be only "British White."

Still later, after the mid 1990's, another attempt at merger efforts were discussed and negotiated between the "White Park Cattle Association" and the "British White Cattle Association." It also failed with the name issue being the main point of contention.

Shortly after the last failed attempt a group representing the "White Park Cattle Association" formed a new Iowa corporation under the name "American British White Park Association of America, Inc." Iowa corporation number 225813. [6].

The "White Park Cattle Association of America" was merged into this new organization, under certificate number W00216275 on 29 July 1999. See the public records on line at the Iowa Secretary of State website. Search Databases/Iowa Corporations.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list accessed 21st May 2008
  2. ^ Public records are on line at the Iowa Secretary of State website. Search Databases/Iowa Corporations.
  3. ^ American White Park
  4. ^ White Park
  5. ^ British White
  6. ^ See the public records on line at the Iowa Secretary of State website. Search Databases/Iowa Corporations
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