General Session I
Brahman Breed History
by Kasey Miller for Angus Productions Inc.
HOUSTON, Texas (April 19, 2012) — The Brahman breed is less than 100 years old and many southern states have been influential in its development, said Jim Sanders, Texas A&M University, at the 44th Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Research Symposium in Houston April 18-21. Much of the information about the history of the breed has already been lost, Sanders said, sharing what he had discovered while preparing his talk with those attending the opening general session.
Jim Sanders
Jay Lush, considered the father of animal breeding as an academic field, started his career at Texas A&M University in 1921 with the first crossbreeding study involving Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle, noted Sanders. It was actually the first study involving the crossbreeding of Brahman cattle, but Brahman wouldn't be recognized as a breed until the formation of the American Brahman Breeders Association in 1924.
Lush's research crossed grade Hereford cows with a ¾- and later 61/64-Brahman bulls, as purebred bulls were almost impossible to find in the early years, Sanders said.
About the time Lush moved from Texas A&M to Iowa State University, Louisiana State University began some research using grade Brahman heifers, Sanders said. For the study, they purchased a 15/16 Brahman bull, which was also mated to Hereford, Angus and Shorthorn cattle.
In 1932, LSU began a study that mated Brahman bulls to Angus cows and Angus bulls to Brahman cows at the Jeanerette Research Station. The progeny of those crosses were mated back to purebred Angus and Brahman to develop crosses with various proportions of Angus and Brahman genetics. Researchers there also mated crossbred bulls to crossbred cows to arrive, by the early 1970s, at a 3/8 Brahman-5/8 Angus composite.
"The research at Jeanerette is often credited as leading to the development of the Brangus breed," Sanders noted, also describing research done in Florida and Texas.
Later studies involved crosses with Angus, Devons, Africanders, Shorthorns, Santa Gertrudis, Red Danish and Red Polls. Several of the studies used inter se mating techniques, which mates animals closely related to each other (straightbreeding).
The Southern Regional Beef Cattle Breeding Research Project (S-10) started with the cooperation of 10 various regional projects and the USDA and state experiment stations. Starting in 1950, Sanders said that this collaboration has grown and is designated as Project S-1045.
Sanders detailed much of the history of research using Brahman genetics in the PowerPoint and the Proceedings that accompanied his presentation. Both can be found in the Newsroom at www.BIFconference.com.
Editor’s Note: This summary was written under contract or by staff of Angus Productions Inc. (API). Through an agreement with the Beef Improvement Federation, we are encouraging reprinting of the articles to those who will adhere to the reprint guidelines available on this site. Please review those guidelines or contact Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, at 816-383-5270. PowerPoints are posted with permission of the presenter and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the presenter.
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