South Devon Cattle - Breed History

Breed History

The Early Years: It is believed South Devon cattle evolved from the large red cattle of Normandy which were imported to England at the time of the Norman invasion. The South Devon of today originated in South West England, in an area of Devon known as the South Hams from where they spread right across the counties of Devon and Cornwall. Historical evidence indicates that isolation caused the divergence of the North and South Devon into physically distinct types, though occasional crossing between the two breeds occurred until the mid-19th century.

The Breed in the 19th Century: The South Devon had been established as a Breed by the year 1800. With a light red coat, they were powerfully built and supplied rich milk and good beef, finely grained and marbled, and were relied upon to pull ploughshares until well into the 19th century. Careful selection of breeding stock improved the Breed considerably. The South Devon Herd Book Society was founded in 1891 when it was recognised by the Government as an official body, and the South Devons become one of the 14 breeds of cattle whose Herd Books date back to the second half of the 19th century.

The Breed in the 20th Century: During the early years of the 20th century the Breed was considered as dual purpose, for the production of milk and beef. Although most herds were milked during and soon after the Second World War the trend has been increasingly towards beefier sires since the 1960s. Although it is now a purely beef breed, the dual-purpose heritage has significance for the suckling of calves.

The Breed in the 21st Century: Recently, there have been attempts to re-introduce the breed into dairy farming. Taverner's Farm in Devon has a small herd which they use to produce their own brand of ice cream (Orange Elephant ice cream). They have attempted to produce a bull for this herd by artificial insemination of their aged prize heifer with 45-year old semen from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's national genetic archive. As of August 2008, this has been unsuccessful after the calf was stillborn.