Devon Cattle

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Devon Cattle
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Discussion

In 1623, a small shipment of North Devon cattle from north Devonshire arrived in the Plymouth Colony.[1] Though cattle had been imported to the continent by the Spanish much earlier (descendants of which are the Texas Longhorn, Pineywoods and Florida Cracker breeds), this was the first arrival of British stock to the Americas. The cattle eventually spread along the east coast as far south as Florida. Original the Devon was a " multi-purpose" breed, used for dairy, meat production, and to meet field labor needs. By the beginning in the 19th century, the Shorthorn breed began to be preferred by farmers for dual-purpose cattle. Devon cattle gradually separated into two separate breeds. Modern North Devons have been bred to be used almost exclusively for beef production, while Milking Devons remain a multi-purpose animal akin to the stock which first took the transatlantic journey.

What is now known as the Milking Devon was the common cattle species found along the Great Road from Philadelphia to Southwest Virginia and beyond. In an environment where self sufficiency was essential, it would have been valued for its multi-purpose qualities, serving both for meat and dairy production, as well as to provide farm labor. Eventually, as the frontier receded, settlers were able to concentrate on doing a few things well, and meeting their other needs from those specializing in something else. A consequence of that is that more specialized cattle became more desired, and the multipurpose Devon became less common.

By 1900 the Milking Devon was rarely found outside New England. By the middle of the 20th century, numbers had dwindled even more significantly, and the market for triple purpose cattle had virtually disappeared. The breed reached its low point in the 1970s, with fewer than 100 head. Today, Milking Devons are still one of the most endangered breeds of cattle in the world. At any given time, 600 living animals are registered as purebred with the breed.

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