Oxen played a vital role in the establishment of this country as they cleared forests, hauled rocks, dug foundations, plowed, and fertilized fields and eventually converted to beef at the end of their working life. No breed did this better than the Shorthorn. With their agreeable temperament, longevity and versatility, the shorthorn was the essential triple purpose breed, pulling their weight in the fields and the milk parlor as well as giving a good return with their fleshy carcass. Here in New England no breed has been more sought after for working oxen. Thanks to a resurgence in the use of draft animals as tractive power on small farms, shorthorn breeders may be able to capitalize on this niche market by breeding for traits desirable in working cattle.
A working steer is a castrated bull who has been trained to work in the yoke and is not considered an “ox” till four years of age. In order for a steer to hold up under working conditions he has to have good conformation otherwise he is likely to experience injury and subsequent culling. Considering the time and effort that goes into training and making a team “handy”, teamsters tend to be quite selective in their search for desirable traits. The traditional shorthorn lends himself well to a life of work, but some selective breeding may make your calves more attractive to a teamster.
An ox is an athlete, and he should look like one. If you were looking for a new herd sire you would likely require many of the same attributes of a potential ox. We want em “square as a brick and smooth as a trout”. Strait legs, heavy of bone with toes pointed forward are important to a comfortable gait and lend themselves to natural wearing of the feet. Well-muscled hind quarters with a long strait back help to transfer his momentum forward to the business end of the ox. Most of his power is in his neck and shoulders and this is where the yoke sits to capture that power. Wide and deep shoulders create a pocket, between the neck and the point of the shoulder, where the neck bow will rest in a heavy pull. A thick and heavily muscled neck makes a good bearing surface for the yoke and bows. Finally, he must be equipped with horns which are critical to keeping the yoke on his neck. On a downhill grade the yoke would be pushed off over the head as he attempts to hold back a load if he does not have horns. Aesthetically, it is preferred that the ox have a well-kept set of horns.
It has become increasingly difficult to find shorthorns that fit the traditional standard laid out above. Gone are the days of the dual or triple purpose breeds and few are the farmers who breed cattle with working qualities in mind. Animals are bred with a singular purpose in life and in cattle that usually means producing milk or beef. The shorthorn has not been immune to this modern specialization and has diverged into the Beef shorthorn and the Milking shorthorn. Here in New England, we have always turned to the Milking Shorthorn herds for our working cattle as they have retained a more angular build and the horns have not been bred out of them. Unfortunately, many Milking Shorthorn herds are being influenced by Red Holstein breeding to increase milk production. In short, they are losing the draft, or those qualities that make them desirable as oxen.
If you live in New England, you will have an advantage when trying to market bull calves for oxen due to the traditional ox culture that exists in this region. In my area of Maine, if you had quality shorthorns and the word got out teamsters would be calling you every spring looking for new prospects for their working and show teams. In my own case I bought a two-month-old pair of mated calves for a thousand-dollar bill. Not a bad return for an animal the farmer had little invested in as it had been fed primarily on its mother up to that point. In this case the old yankee was a retired dairy farmer who still had pasture to maintain so he built a small herd of shorthorns just for the purpose of making and selling young teams of cattle. My team is now 2.5 years old and quite sharp, at least according to my neighbors who retrieved them after they discovered there was no “fire “in the electric fence and jogged down the road drawing public curiosity.
For those living in other parts of the country this niche market might be tougher to break into but thanks to the internet and the advertising/ networking opportunities therein, a farmer could still find a home for a working steer. I’d look at printed publications as well, those that focus on small scale sustainable farming like The Small Farmers Journal, or Rural Heritage. These magazines cater to those who still use live animal power to get things done and might be a good resource to help build a reputation as a quality breeder of the shorthorn. Another resource is Tillers International out of Michigan. They have a website and work with small farmers the world over to help develop sustainable agriculture based on draft animals, they seem to favor the Shorthorns as well from what I’ve seen.
Author Profile: Gregory Mitchell
My wife and I, and our four children live in Southern Maine where we dream and aspire to be farmers. Our approach is old school diversification, supplying our household with as much home-grown food as we can. We keep pigs, chickens, and grow a large garden. For ten years I have maintained a small logging outfit using my draft horses and now my pair of Shorthorn steers. This fall we expanded our dreaming potential with the purchase of a 73-acre homestead. This is my mutual fund. A place where things will continue to grow and chug along even amid a disaster like Covid-19. Honey, maple syrup, and a family cow will further diversify our portfolio in the next year or so. The cow will be a Shorthorn of course, and perhaps the start of a small herd of old school Shorthorns!
This photo is from the Fryeburg Fair, Maine Facebook page.