Holstein Cattle - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

From the 17th to 18th centuries, the British Isles imported Dutch cattle, using them as the basis of several breeds in England and Scotland. The eminent Prof. Low recorded, "the Dutch breed was especially established in the district of Holderness, on the north side of the Humber; northward through the plains of Yorkshire. The finest dairy cattle in England...", of Holderness in 1840 still retained the distinct traces of their Dutch origin.

Further north in the Tees area, farmers imported continental cattle from the Netherlands, Holstein or the countries on the Elbe. Low wrote, "Of the precise extent of these early importations we are imperfectly informed, but that they exercised a great influence on the native stock appears from this circumstance, that the breed formed by the mixture became familiarly known as the Dutch or Holstein breed".

Holstein-Friesians were found throughout the rich lowlands of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the western provinces of Germany. The breed did not become established in Great Britain at the time, nor was it used in the islands of Jersey or of Guernsey, which bred their own special cattle named after the islands. Their laws prohibited using imports from the continent for breeding purposes. After World War II, breeders on the islands needed to restore their breeds, which had been severely reduced during the war, and imported almost 200 animals. Canadian breeders sent a gift of three yearling bulls from to help establish the breed.

The pure Holstein Breed Society was started in 1946 in Great Britain, following the British Friesian Cattle Society. The breed was developed slowly up to the 1970s, after which there was an explosion in its popularity, and additional animals were imported. More recently, the two societies merged in 1999 establishing Holstein UK.