Current Status
The Milking Shorthorn breed is seeing a steady increase in popularity again after many decades of decline. The hardy, efficient nature of the breed and its suitability to pasture/forage-based dairying is leading this recovery. As well, the breed has embarked on a program of genetic expansion over the past 30 years in order to continue making genetic progress for dairy characteristics while at the same time counter-acting a diminishing gene pool by incorporating some of the best genetics from other red dairy breeds. American and Canadian Milking Shorthorn populations have incorporated genetics from the Illawarra breed in Australia to a high degree, as the Illawarra population has a high degree of Shorthorn ancestry. The North American populations have also made strategic use of Red Holstein genetics and in recent years have started to use some Swedish Red Breed sires as well. In the UK Dairy Shorthorn and Australian Illawarra populations, this level of genetic expansion or "blending" has been even more pronounced than in North America, incorporating Danish Red, Swedish Red, Red Holstein, Red Friesian, Ayrshire, and Red Angler genetics in varying degrees.
While these genetic expansion programs have been embraced, national breed associations have been instrumental in ensuring that the breed works to retain the characteristics that make it an efficient alternative in the dairy industry. National breed associations have been active in either approving sires for use or directly selling semen on a range of sires of varying purity percentages. All countries have different herd book mechanisms for tracking the percentage of purity on each registered animal.
There are small groups of Milking/Dairy Shorthorns that have not incorporated outside genetics and remain true to the conformation and production levels of Shorthorns from the earlier part of the 20th century. The Dairy Shorthorn population in Australia, as well as the Native Milking Shorthorns of the United States are examples of such groups. There are also breeders in the United Kingdom that have only 100% pure Dairy Shorthorns. In some countries, these animals may be known as Dual Purpose Shorthorns, as they tend to have higher fleshing capabilities than traditional dairy cattle.
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