August 2023 News

The photo gallery at the top of the HSS Homepage changes periodically—check to see what photos are currently there. Why not send some of your own photos to the HSS office for the photo gallery?

HSS continues to purchase ads in many national magazines. The ad to the right is currently in the Small Farmer’s Journal, Volume 47, #1.

A similar ad is also in the Summer 2023 issue of the Livestock Conservancy News.

As mentioned last month in the July News, there is a new HSS ad in the latest issue of the Canadian Shorthorn Report, which was recently published. (See a copy of the ad in the July News)

There is a new Calf of the Month for Aug/Sept. from another Heritage bull that has not been featured before.

July 2023 News

With new potential purchasers visiting your ranch/farm this summer to see the cattle that you have for sale, and with the upcoming county and state fairs, passing out information to highlight the advantages of buying Heritage Shorthorns while advertising your own cattle can be a win-win. The colorful, informative, and high quality HSS tri-fold brochures are an inexpensive but appealing way to give people an excellent “business card” because you add your own contact information on the back of the brochure. Small or larger batches of the HSS brochures can be ordered from the Store Page on the HSS website.

New ads highlighting Heritage Shorthorns have been paid for in the July &/or August issues of the “Canadian Shorthorn Report” (see a copy of the ad to the right), and in “Graze” magazine.

The “Graze" ad is a duplicate of the ad pictured in the HSS April 2023 News and as with the previous one, it was partly paid for with a donation from David Bender of Benchmark Shorthorns.

When website visitors are looking at the Breeders/Members Page to find someone to contact about buying Heritage Shorthorns, what helps to “catch their eye” so that they pay closer attention to you?—A colorful farm logo next to your ranch/farm name! If you already have a logo, it can be added for a one-time fee of $25, and it stays posted as long as you are a member. If you need help designing a logo contact the HSS office—we would be happy to help you with a new logo.

This is a good time of the year to promote the cattle that you have for sale via ads on the HSS website. The “Cattle for Sale” classified ads are primarily to list one particular animal or small group, while the ads on the Breeders Ads Page are an extremely inexpensive way to promote your whole herd over the span of 3 months to a year and to let people know what qualities you are maximizing in your herd. **The pricing on the Breeder’s Ads Page has been recently decreased, so it’s an even better bargain.

If you need help designing a ranch/farm ad, contact the HSS office—we would be glad to design one with your input and information. Alternatively, local community college art or design students might be a good inexpensive resource.

June 2023 News

In April 2023, Zane and Elaine Sunday who own Foxfire Farms in Florida, hosted a social gathering for Heritage Shorthorn breeders in the southeastern USA. An article and pictures have been posted on the HSS website under “HSS Social Gatherings”. This is a good way for Heritage Shorthorn breeders to get to know each other and talk about new ideas to promote and market their cattle. If you are interested in potentially hosting a regional get together, Zane would be happy to talk to you about setting it up, and HSS is happy to provide financial support for such items as food expenses.

A new “Spotlight on Members” article has been posted, featuring Dr. Marcie Logsdon and Landon Moore in Palouse Washington. Marcie has sent some outstanding photos to the HSS office which show their children interacting with their cattle. One of her photos is currently in the photo gallery on the top of the HSS home page. She has a unique herd.

A new “Calf of the Month” has been posted, featuring a calf with a pedigree that includes several famous, classic Heritage Shorthorn bulls.

As your new spring calves are growing and the weather improves, snap some photos of your calves with interesting Heritage pedigrees and send them to the HSS office for the possibility of having them featured as the “Calf of the Month”.

To help with marketing/selling your cattle, are you documenting their Heritage status (or Heritage Influenced status) by registering them with HSS? Registrations with HSS are quick and inexpensive relative to other breed association registries. The HSS Registry database (https://registry.heritageshorthorn.org) is user friendly and is an ever-expanding reference for Heritage Shorthorn lineages. More breeders are registering with HSS which means that increasing funds are being invested in national advertising about Heritage Shorthorns. More details on the ever expanding HSS advertising program will be provided in future “Monthly Updates”.

May 2023 News

In mid-April, Zane and Elaine Sunday who own Foxfire Farm in Florida, again hosted an informal regional get-together for anyone interested in Heritage Shorthorns. Pictures and more details will be provided later on the HSS website and in the June Monthly Newsletter.

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In addition to the HSS ad in the April edition of “Graze” magazine (which was partly financed by David Bender and David Chupp, as noted in last month’s HSS Newsletter), HSS has paid for more ads in national magazines. An ad promoting Heritage Shorthorns is in the current Small Farmer’s Journal, Vol. 46, #4. (see copy of ad to the left)

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This full page ad (to the right) was paid for and was supposed to be in the 2023 Livestock Conservancy Directory. Unfortunately the LC mistakenly reused an HSS ad from 2022. Needless to say, we’re very disappointed since the next Directory won’t be published until Spring 2024.

April 2023 News

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Ever wonder about Shorthorns when they were first being imported into the newly formed United States in the late 1700’s? Benjamin Hudson, who is a historian and a supporting member of HSS, has written an enjoyable insight into early Shorthorns in the U.S. His article titled “George Washington and Shorthorns” will be available to read on the HSS website in the “Cattle Viewpoints” Section by April 2nd.

HSS has a new ad (see the image at the top of this newsletter) coming out in the April edition of “Graze” Magazine , and again in their August/Sept. issue. The idea for placing an ad in “Graze” came from David Bender of Benchmark Shorthorns in Pearisburg, Virginia. His idea came with a very generous donation from him and his partners, David & Lydiann Chupp. David Chupp creates custom furniture, and a table made by him for a raffle at an HSS gathering last spring provided part of the funds for the ads. A big thanks to both Davids.

Another ad funded by HSS is in the Small Farmers Journal winter (Vol. 46, No.3) issue.

An ad was scheduled for the Spring issue of the Canadian Shorthorn report. However with the recent change in editors and management at the Canadian Shorthorn Report, the HSS ad was “lost in the shuffle”, so it is now planned for their Summer issue.

Speaking of advertising, it’s that time of year to consider where you will do your own personal advertising to promote your cattle in 2023. Besides the obvious free Classified “Cattle for Sale” page on the HSS website, a full color ad on the Breeder’s Ad Page allows you to highlight your herd’s best qualities with multiple pictures and personalized wording. If you would like help in creating an ad, our office is happy to help design a personalized Breeder’s Ad for you. When the ad is posted (for 3, 6, or 12 mo.) it will be seen by interested people all over the U.S. and Canada, for a very low cost to you. (See the bottom half of the Ads Rates Page for more information.)

A new “Calf of the Month” has been posted for April/May. There are quite a few old Heritage Shorthorn bulls represented as sires for the calves that have been featured—it’s exciting to see the current broadening of the Heritage genetics which are becoming available.

A special thank you to Dr. Marcie Logsdon of L & M Palouse Farms in Washington for the many great human-interest photos she has sent HSS for use in promoting Heritage Shorthorns. Her ability to capture the essence of owning calm Shorthorns is amazing. Thanks also to Ralph Larson of Y Lazy Y Shorthorns in Montana for his picturesque Shorthorn photos. Along with photos sent by other members, Marcie’s and Ralph’s photos have been extremely helpful for creating advertising and for enhancing the HSS website.

March 2023 News

The newest HSS “Spotlight on Members” article features a HSS member who lives in Canada. This the first “Spotlight On Member” article featuring a Canadian member of HSS. Dr. Tyler May raises a variety of heritage livestock, including Heritage Shorthorns in the far north, where hardiness and adaptability are essential qualities. He has quite an interesting story.

New rotating photos have been posted on the HSS Homepage to highlight the friendly dispositions and wide utility of Heritage and Heritage-Influenced Shorthorns. Take a look to see if you recognize anyone in the photos! These photos are changed periodically, and we welcome pictures from any of you who are good at taking snapshots.

Additional cane codes for old Shorthorn bull semen have been added to the HSS Semen Code Page, to help breeders figure out what older bulls may be in their semen tanks.

Have you ever puzzled over the confusing variety of names associated with Shorthorns (Dairy, Teeswater, Durham, Native, Milking, etc., etc.)? If so, the latest “Cattle Viewpoints” article, “Shorthorns—What’s in a Name?” explains what all these terms mean.

A paid advertisement highlighting Heritage Shorthorns is in the most recent print issue of the Livestock Conservancy Newsletter (Winter 2023). Additional different ads are scheduled in other magazines for April, and will be shown in the April Newsletter.

February 2023 News

Currently HSS ads are in the January editions of the Canadian Shorthorn Report and the Small Farmer’s Journal. (See the ads below.) Along with publicizing Heritage Shorthorns in general, the Heritage Shorthorn Society is always promoting our Members/Breeders in the USA & Canada. When readers of the national ads go online, the Cattle for Sale Page and the Members/Breeders Page are always the most viewed pages on the HSS website. (Do you have ads on the HSS website? and is your contact information up to date?)

Jan. 2023 Small Farmer’s Journal Ad

Jan. 2023 Canadian Shorthorn Report Ad

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The new Calf of the Month came as a double surprise—check it out on the Calf of the Month Page on HSS.

A big part of being successful when raising cattle is having a good marketing plan. The most recent posting in the HSS Cattle Viewpoints section “Develop a Marketing Plan” covers many aspects involved with being profitable when selling your livestock. Are you following good guidelines to become more profitable?

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If you would like to see a continued expansion of buyers for your own Heritage and Heritage-Influenced Shorthorns, then take some time to answer the following 2 questions (because “a rising tide floats all boats”):

1. How can I help to diversify the genetics which are available?

2. How can I promote these special cattle which I own/breed?

Your answers should include one or more of the following:

• Utilize Heritage Shorthorns (bull &/or semen) which have different blood lines from what is already in your herd pedigrees.

• Advertise in your local or regional farm publications, and highlight positives about Heritage Shorthorns.

• Advertise on the HSS website (classifieds are free for members, and the Breeder’s Ads provide “a big bang for the buck”).

• Talk to people and pass out the colorful HSS brochures (available on the HSS store Page) with your contact information added on the back.

• Host a casual get-together of HSS members and interested potential buyers in your region.

• Register your animals with HSS, even if you also register with ASA or AMSS. It’s inexpensive to do and it helps us expand the database of known Heritage Shorthorns, as well as providing additional funds for national advertising to promote your cattle.

• Submit photos for potential inclusion on “Calf of the Month”, which highlights a variety of different genetic lines and names your farm.

• Show your most eye-appealing cattle at your local fair, and provide visitors with promotional information.

• Update your Farm/Ranch website &/or Facebook page to make it more current & appealing, and be sure to add a link to the HSS website so that more people become aware of the opportunities with Heritage Shorthorns.

• Read and put in to practice the newest Cattle Viewpoints article on Marketing.

  What is your plan to promote Heritage &/or Heritage Influenced Shorthorns?

January 2023 News

New Years Greetings to all. I know that many of you are looking forward to a hopefully less stressful/more rewarding 2023 compared to 2022. This January marks the start of the 6th year for the Heritage Shorthorn Society. It was started in January 2018, and by the end of the first year HSS had 46 members. Membership has continued to grow each year, despite the passing of several members and other members deciding to get out of cattle production by retiring or by pursuing other interests. HSS has seen a surge of new, younger members who are interested in taking advantage of the variety of markets which Heritage Shorthorns are providing to breeders.

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Over these past 5 years the Heritage Shorthorn Society (HSS) has been created, maintained and expanded entirely through volunteer efforts.

Yearly expenses for HSS have included paying for:

-multiple domain names and hosting companies,

-the internet website structure for HSS proper + the certified beef website + the HSS registration website,

-professional printing of brochures, plus office & mailing supplies,

-creation of the completely new & first rate registration and pedigree software,

-mailing a book to each new member,

-utilization of an online payment company,

-plus many more expenses involved in the workings and maintenance of HSS.

The Heritage Shorthorn Society is proud to say that besides maintaining the extensive websites, HSS advertising and outreach for your direct benefit (HSS members) has been priority #1. Over these 5 years and into this coming year 2023, the Heritage Shorthorn Society has spent $11,790.00 on advertisements in national magazines to promote Heritage Shorthorns in the United States and in Canada. This has not been done in recent history by any other organization in support of Heritage/Native Shorthorns. Considering our limited number of members, and the extremely low membership fee, all of the above has only been possible due to generous financial donations from several HSS members and due to the volunteer status of our contributors. Currently the increasing registrations of heritage and heritage-influenced Shorthorns in the HSS Registry are generating additional money for national advertising.

Calrossie Supreme

An expanded number of photos of famous old Shorthorn bulls & cows are available on the Shorthorn Bulletin website: https://shorthornbulletin.com , under the “Photos” section.

There will be a slight increase in the HSS annual membership dues, and for registrations & transfers starting January 1, 2023 due to increased costs for website maintenance and assorted other expenses. This is the first increase in fees since HSS was started in 2018. Membership renewals will be $30. To our knowledge membership and registration fees are the lowest of any cattle organization, and HSS plans to keep them that way by relying on volunteer efforts by our members.

December 2022 News

A new “Spotlight on Members” family has been posted on the HSS website (under the Heritage Breeders/Members section). David and Evon McDonald are relatively new breeders of Heritage Shorthorns, but they have an interesting background and are passionate about expanding good Heritage bloodlines. Read about them on the HSS website.

If it’s been a while since you have looked at the HSS homepage, it has an updated look, including an active photo gallery. The individual photos in the gallery are changed periodically to highlight photos which have been sent in by our members. If you have a good photo which highlights some aspect of raising Shorthorns, send it to the HSS office for possible inclusion in the photo gallery.

Check out the new posting for the Calf of the Month Page on our website.

HSS wants to highlight the variety of genetics which are currently being used to expand what is available in Heritage Shorthorns. If you have a calf out of interesting/uncommon Heritage bloodlines please submit a good photo (taken when the calf is less than 7 months old) and information about the calf for a potential future HSS Calf of the Month.

The money generated when you register your Heritage &/or Heritage-Influenced Shorthorns in the HSS Registry is directly invested in promoting your cattle via HSS ads placed in assorted national magazines and journals. HSS is already planning multiple ads in more venues during 2023.

Traditional/Heritage Shorthorns are known for the quality of their grass-fed beef. Zane Sunday (a member of HSS who lives in Florida) sent this photo of a steak from one of his strictly grass-fed Heritage Shorthorn steers. Notice the amount of marbling achieved without grain or growth promoting supplements.

November 2022 News

A new article has been posted on the “Cattle Viewpoints” Page. While this article was written some years ago, the ideas presented are well worth considering as you look at your breeding program.

The interest in Heritage Shorthorns in both the USA and Canada continues to grow and HSS is adding new members—take a look at the Members/Breeders Page to see new members in your region. Registrations of Heritage Shorthorns also is increasing as Shorthorn breeders recognize the advantages of registering their Shorthorns with HSS to document Heritage bloodlines in their cattle. The low cost, simplicity, accuracy, and the short turn around time provided by the current HSS Registry are just some of the reasons why the HSS Registry has grown rapidly.

HSS is always looking for interesting Shorthorn pictures so if you have taken a “special picture” send it to the HSS office to add to the HSS website.

Advertising is one of the cornerstones of being a successful purebred livestock breeder. Too many times livestock breeders wait until they have something to sell and then run a small classified ad, rather than being proactive to promote the genetics of their herds so that other Shorthorn breeders become aware of what might be available. As the diversity of Heritage Shorthorns continues to expand, the opportunities to sell are also increasing. The HSS office is always willing to develop advertisements for members to help you promote your unique Heritage Shorthorn genetics.

October 2022 News

HSS has paid for an ad in the Canadian Shorthorn Report October issue (see ad below), and there will be additional ads in the following quarterly issues. The growing interest in Heritage Shorthorns by Canadian Shorthorn breeders benefits both American and Canadian members of HSS, by stimulating across-the-border sales of cattle and semen to provide increased diversity in Heritage and Heritage-Influenced herds.

A new Calf of the Month has been posted on the website featuring a calf sired by a different old bloodline.

If you are testing your cattle, which you are keeping &/or selling as registered stock, for the common genetic defects (TH, PHA, DS, and/or Myostatin) and want test results documented on HSS registration papers, please send a photo copy of the official lab test results along with the registration application. Test results for A2 and for heterozygous vs homozygous polled genes can also be documented on the HSS Registration paper. (Test results can also be sent later, and a new updated registration paper issued for a $10/animal fee.)

HSS is sad to report the recent death of the internationally renowned Australian Shorthorn breeder Rick Pisaturo. Rick produced a number of famous Shorthorn bulls on his Mandalong Stud Farm near Sydney Australia, including Mandalong Super Flag and Mandalong Super Elephant. He had a lasting positive affect on the Shorthorn breed in Canada and the USA. At the time of his death Rick was 100 years old.

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September 2022 News

The new Spotlight on Members quarterly posting is on Dr. Bert Moore with his wife Millie Moore. He has a lifelong love of Shorthorns, and he has become a preeminent historian of the breed. He is a major contributor to the historical information on the HSS website.

Interested in Shorthorn pedigrees? A new page has been added to the Historical Shorthorns Section which is titled “Foundation Sire Lineages”. Dr. Bert Moore has documented each generation of sires for many famous Shorthorn bulls, leading directly back to original bulls listed in the Coates Herd Book.

The Heritage Shorthorn Society has paid for ads coming out this fall in “The Angle” Magazine to promote the Family Cow and Dual Purpose utilization of Heritage Shorthorns. It can be seen on Page 3 of the most recent online (via the AMSS website) and print editions of “The Angle”. There is also a paid ad in the September issue of “Shorthorn Country” to promote the commercial beef side of Heritage Shorthorns. An ad in the “Canadian Shorthorn Report” will be coming out later this fall.

If you are using a bull in your breeding program which you feel qualifies as a Heritage bull, but the bull is not listed on the “Verified Bulls” Page of the HSS website, you can submit Registration documentation on the bull to the HSS office to have him added to the list. Please see the “Application for Verification” Page for more information.

August 2022 News

Visit the “Calf of the Month” Page to see the newest post. One purpose of the “Calf of the Month” Page is to highlight the expanding use of less common Heritage Shorthorn bulls by today’s breeders of Heritage or Heritage-Influenced Shorthorns to broaden the available genetic base. Only a handful of calves have been born out of the sire of the Calf of the Month in the past 30+ years.

HSS has a new option for our members with regard to the online Members/Breeders Page. There are now 3 options:

1. Full Listing with Names, Farm/Ranch Name, appropriate contact information, list of what you typically have for sale, and if desired a sentence about your herd purpose/cattle type/philosophy or ?.

2. Supporting Member Listing with only Name(s) and City/State where you are located (additional information can be included if you want it). This option is primarily to recognize those who provide support to HSS, but who do not currently have Heritage or Heritage-Influenced Shorthorns for sale, and who do not want to be contacted by potential buyers.

3. No public listing, where your contact is kept in the HSS office but nothing (not even your Name, etc.) is posted on the HSS website or publicly available—i.e. visitors to the HSS website would have no way to know about you.

For those members who have not previously been listed, please send a short note to the HSS office if you now want to be listed as a Supporting Member. For everyone else, please take a few minutes to look at your Members/Breeders listing and let us know if anything needs to be changed.

There is increasing interest among Canadian Shorthorn breeders who are taking another look at the qualities that Heritage offspring have to offer. Several of our members have recently sold Heritage Shorthorns to Canadian Shorthorn breeders due to this renewed interest. A large number of very influential old Heritage Shorthorn bulls were Canadian bred in the 1950s-1980s and there has always been some cross-border sharing of good genetics, however there seems to be an uptick in purchasing desirable Heritage Shorthorns to add to the current Canadian Shorthorn genetic base. HSS has run ads previously in the Canadian Shorthorn Report, and will be running new ads later this year to help spark further interest in Canadian breeders about purchasing additional Heritage cattle for the Canadian Shorthorn market.

The Livestock Conservancy (LC) Facebook special postings for June—Heritage Cattle Month got off to a very slow start, but after the middle of June they posted quite a number of highlights and pictures, many of which featured Heritage Shorthorns and HSS members. Their online visitor count indicated that over 48,000 people looked at the LC facebook page and as a result were exposed to lots of great “PR” about Heritage Shorthorns. If you have not seen the various Heritage Shorthorn postings, you can access the LC facebook page and scroll down to the postings from the latter part of June (down past all of the horse postings). www.facebook.com/livestockconservancy

July 2022 News

Check out the HSS Home Page which now has a more attractive logo and a photo banner heading.

If you happened to look at the Livestock Conservancy Facebook website in early June, they did not have much posted regarding “June is Cattle Month”. In the past couple of weeks they have added multiple articles featuring a write up on Heritage Shorthorns, and also articles & pictures featuring some Heritage Shorthorn breeders. This has stimulated a huge uptick in the number of people going to the HSS website for more information.

By now most of you have 2022 spring calves, so take your camera or phone out to the barn or pasture and get some photos of your Heritage or Heritage-Influenced calves. We want to highlight the variety of genetics being used by members and are always looking for calves to feature on the “Calf of the Month” Page. Email your photos to our office (office@heritageshorthorn.org) with a short note giving the calf’s name, sire & dam, birth date, and age when photo was taken, +/- birth weight. (We can crop and clean up the photos here as long as the calf is in a good pose.)

It’s not too early to think about having brochures about Heritage Shorthorns with your farm information on the back to hand out at fairs & other venues or to give to visitors. The brochures now come with the Heritage Shorthorn Certified Beef insert added. These can be ordered online via the HSS store page. (It comes already folded and ready to hand out after you put your farm/ranch info. on the back.)

Speaking of the Heritage Shorthorn Certified Beef Program (HSCB), as a member your farm/ranch can be added at any time to the contact page on the designated HSCB website—www.heritageshorthornbeef.com. Just let the HSS office know if you are interested.

Outside of tri-fold brochure

Inside of tri-fold brochure

June 2022 News

A new Spotlight on Members article is posted and features Lisa Carpenter with the Kline Creek Historical Farm. Lisa is unique among HSS members because of her special utilization of Heritage Shorthorns in a very traditional farm setting—read this interesting Spotlight article in the Heritage Breeders/Membership Folder on the HSS website.

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In May the first ever regional social gathering of HSS members occurred at Firefox Farm in Defuniak Springs, Florida. Zane & Elaine Sunday created and hosted this event so that members could meet in person and exchange ideas about raising and marketing Heritage Shorthorns. Look under the Heritage Breeders/Membership Folder for pictures and information about this event.

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The Livestock Conservancy (LC) periodically highlights one type of heritage livestock on their social media platforms for an entire month (pigs, chickens, sheep, etc.). This June 2022 is their Heritage Cattle Month. HSS has furnished LC with a large amount of information about Heritage Shorthorns, about the Heritage Shorthorn Society, and also profiles on a variety of HSS members who represent different aspects of raising and marketing Heritage Shorthorns. It’s our understanding that they will be intermittently posting articles & profiles about many breeds of heritage cattle all during the entire month, so you should plan to check their social media sites (https://www.facebook.com/livestockconservancy, Instagram, and Twitter) periodically during June to see what is posted about Heritage Shorthorns and the Heritage Shorthorn Society. This national exposure is free to HSS members through our ongoing financial support of LC.

The Spring Issue of The Livestock Conservancy featured a Heritage Shorthorn and HSS member Martha Hoffman-Kerestes on the cover. It also included an article regarding the notable upgrade of Heritage Shorthorns from their Critically Endangered list to the Threatened list for heritage cattle breeds. All HSS members can take credit for this further indication of heightened interest in raising Heritage Shorthorns and the expansion of the Heritage Shorthorn breed.

On a related note, we expect that the Livestock Conservancy postings will trigger a number of new visitors to the Heritage Shorthorn Society website, so make sure that your contact information is up to date on the Members/Breeders Page. Putting a standard or large ranch/farm ad on the HSS website is an inexpensive way to create more interest in your cattle with potential buyers of Heritage or Heritage Influenced Shorthorns. Contact the HSS office for help in creating and posting an ad.

A new Calf of the Month is posted for June/July on the HSS website.

The Heritage Shorthorn Society has paid for a half page ad to run twice this year in “The Angle” magazine. “The Angle” is the relatively new publication from the American Milking Shorthorn Assoc. (AMSS) and is primarily promoting composite cattle, but the HSS ad targets people who may be interested in the small diary &/or family cow side of Heritage Shorthorns. The HSS ad in the May/June edition includes a photo of HSS member Stanley Ward.

May 2022 News

Livestock Conservancy 2022 Directory Ad

HSS (thank you to our members) has paid for a full page ad for Heritage Shorthorns in the 2022 Livestock Conservancy Annual Directory (see copy of ad on right, and check out the QR code). We’ll keep you posted as additional purchased ads are in various magazines/journals throughout this year.

HSS would like to help you promote your Heritage or Heritage Influenced Shorthorns through advertising either on the HSS website or in your local/regional farm media. Contact the HSS office and we can create an ad for you to advertise your cattle.

The weather certainly has been adverse in many areas so far this spring—hopefully everyone is managing OK with their livestock.

April 2022 News

HSS has designed and paid for an ad for Heritage Shorthorns in the April issue of “Shorthorn Country”. There will be additional ads in national journals throughout 2022. HSS’s ability to publish more ads promoting Heritage Shorthorns in different venues is the result of the increasing support HSS is receiving from many different HSS members. Thank you to all of our members—“a rising tide floats all boats”.

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A well-written article on Johne’s Disease and its potential impact on cattle breeders was recently published in the Beef Magazine. It’s crucial to know the basics about Johne’s Disease when evaluating your own herd, and before you purchase new livestock. The article link is: https://www.beefmagazine.com/beef/johnes-disease-how-keep-it-farm?

There is a new Calf of the Month posted for April/May on the HSS website.

A new article has been posted in the Cattle Viewpoints section, titled “Heritage Dairy Shorthorns or Heritage Milking Shorthorns”. This article, written by Dr. Joseph Schallberger, gives historical perspective & thoughts on how to refer to those Heritage Shorthorns which are valued for their milk production.

The Livestock Conservancy has moved Heritage Shorthorns from their “Critically Endangered List” to the less severe “Threatened List”. This is a testament to the efforts of all HSS Breeders in expanding the availability of Heritage Shorthorn cattle with their increasingly diversified genetics.

HSS would like to offer our condolences to the Hendrickson Family of Nile Valley Shorthorns for the recent death of Doyle Hendrickson, and also to the Cavanaugh Family of JLC Cattle Company on the loss of Lawson Cavanaugh. Doyle and Lawson were both charter members of HSS.

March 2022 News

Alan & Sara Leap

A new “Spotlight on Members” article is now posted on the HSS website featuring Alan & Sara Leap with XL Shorthorns. Alan is a long-time cattle breeder who is committed to the qualities of traditional Shorthorns.

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the Coates (Shorthorn) Herdbook, the British Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society has an extensive article on Shorthorn history which can be accessed via the following link to their Journal: https://www.beefshorthorn.org/journals. After clicking on the website link, open the 2022 online journal, and the Historical article starts on page #188. (There are also a number of other interesting articles in their Journal. If you’re wondering about “suckler” herds, they are basically cow/calf operations.)

More Heritage Shorthorn bulls have been added to the HSS online reference list of Bulls Free of Genetic Defects Page.

The HSS “Calf of the Month” Page is highlighting a new calf every other month, so there are plenty of opportunities to get a good photo of one of your calves this spring (or fall) to send to the HSS office, to potentially be featured. The guidelines now allow either a fully Heritage Shorthorn calf, or a Shorthorn calf out of a Heritage bull (Heritage-Influenced).

While you have your camera (or smart phone) in hand, be sure to get some good photos of your cattle to use on your own website or facebook page, or for creating an ad for the HSS Breeder’s Ads Page. Our office is happy to help design an ad for you to post—just send us an email.

February 2022 News

Dr. Bert Moore has written an informative and enjoyable new article on “The Coates Herdbook”, explaining how it came into existence. The Coates Herdbook of 1822, with its documentation of original Shorthorn registrations, is the reason that Heritage Shorthorn pedigrees trace back 200 years. The article is posted in the Cattle Viewpoints section and it compliments a previous Viewpoints article written by Dr. Moore called “Heritage Shorthorns Impact On World Cattle Breeds”. Together the two articles demonstrate the importance of Heritage Shorthorns and the dominant role they have played in improving cattle breeds worldwide.

There is a new posting on the Calf of the Month Page for Feb./March.

Have you ever wondered how to use ampules or Magic Wands of old semen? Today’s cattle breeders and AI technicians are quite familiar with using straws of semen to breed cattle however, bull semen that was frozen prior to the mid 1970’s was mostly in ampules, and some was in Magic Wands. Dr. Joe Schallberger has written a practical article explaining how to use this older semen. Here is a link to that article: https://shorthornselectgenetics.com/semen/using-amps-or-wands .

A quick note: The presence of HSS on the internet, and consequently the visibility of Heritage and Heritage-Influenced Shorthorns and their breeders is steadily increasing. The number of visits to the HSS website for last year (2021) was approximately 23,000, while the number of page views was approximately 47,000. A large percentage of the page views involved people looking at the Breeders/Members Page and the Ranch Ads and Cattle for Sale Ads pages.

Sadly we have to report the recent passing of Gary Kaper who was a strong supporter of Heritage Shorthorns. He had authored two articles for HSS Cattle Viewpoints. Gary was a friend and as knowledgeable about Shorthorns as anyone. He owned Kaper Cattle in Watseka, Illinois. He started with one Milking Shorthorn cow at the age of 12 and eventually developed a nationally known Shorthorn herd. Gary was a special person who will be missed by everyone who ever knew him.

January 2022 News

HSS wants to thank all of our members for their support during the last year. Thanks to some generous donations by several HSS members the HSS advertising/outreach campaign will be expanding in 2022. HSS is continuing its National Sponsorship of the Livestock Conservancy, along with a 1/4 page ad in their quarterly newsletter and a full page color ad in their directory promoting Heritage Shorthorns. Watch for information on additional ads HSS will be running in a variety of cattle magazines during 2022.

Recently HSS has received several inquires by people looking for horned heifers. Buyers are also asking about A2 status, free of the F94L myostatin gene, horned versus polled, dairy versus beef, and health status. If you have anything you would like to sell it is important to post ads on the website &/or to let the HSS office know so we can forward buyers to you. Heritage Shorthorn growth is being held back by the fact there are not enough quality Heritage Shorthorn heifers for sale. The “Cattle For Sale” page is still the most viewed page on the HSS website while the “Breeders Ads” page continues to be second.

As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the “Coates Herd Book” all Heritage Shorthorn breeders should be proud of their dedication to maintaining what was started 200 years ago. No other group of cattle breeders in the world have the history that Heritage Shorthorn breeders have. The growth of HSS has been phenomenal over the last 3 years both in the USA and worldwide. It is amazing the wide variety of requests the HSS office now receives from different parts of the world about Heritage Shorthorns.

Additional reference Semen Codes for Heritage Shorthorn bulls have been added to the list on the HSS website under the Heritage Bulls/Semen Codes section.

Last summer (we just recently found out about it), there was an article about the Heritage Shorthorn Society in the Australian Beef Shorthorn 2021 Annual Newsletter. If you want to take a look at the article, here is the link. https://www.beefshorthorn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/BSSANLAug21.pdf

Throughout 2022 HSS will gradually be upgrading different aspects of the HSS website. This will add some new information to the website and improve the user’s experience. Hopefully this will benefit HSS members by strengthening our promotion of Heritage Shorthorns. Check out the upgraded “Opportunities” page. We are always open to suggestions so please do not hesitate to contact us with your ideas.