The Black Hereford is a hybrid type of beef cattle produced in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 by crossing a Hereford

Hereford (cattle)

Hereford cattle are a beef cattle breed, widely used both in intemperate areas and temperate areas, mainly for meat production.Originally from Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom, more than five million pedigree Hereford Cattle now exist in over 50 countries...

 beef bull

Beef cattle

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production . The meat of cattle is known as beef. When raised in a feedlot cattle are known as feeder cattle. Many such feeder cattle are born in cow-calf operations specifically designed to produce beef calves...

 with Holstein-Friesian

Holstein (cattle)

Holstein cattle is a breed of cattle known today as the world's highest production dairy animal. Originating in Europe, Holsteins were bred in what is now the Netherlands and more specifically in the two northern provinces of North Holland and Friesland...

 dairy cows

Dairy cattle

Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus....

. Black Herefords are not usually maintained from generation to generation, but are constantly produced as a byproduct of dairy farming

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...

. They are one of the most common types of beef cattle in the British Isles, outnumbering many pure beef breeds.

Appearance

The Black Hereford has a white face like the Hereford, but the red body colour of the Hereford is replaced by black from the Holstein-Friesian – white face and black coat colour are both genetically dominant in cattle. The pied pattern of the Holstein-Friesian does not appear in the offspring.

Origin

Cattle only produce milk after calving, and so every dairy cow must produce a calf every year. In dairy herds (which in the British Isles are almost all Holstein-Friesians), the best milking cows will normally be got in calf to a dairy bull, usually by artificial insemination

Artificial insemination

Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...

 (AI). The female pure-bred dairy calves from these will go on to become replacement dairy cows. Half of the pure-bred calves will of course be male – these are mostly not needed for breeding, and are generally unsuitable for beef; they may be reared for veal

Veal

Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...

 or more commonly they are killed and disposed of at a few days old. Pure-bred dairy calves are not needed from the rest of the herd, and a beef bull is run with the remaining females to produce cross-bred calves suitable for beef – these females will be the poorer-quality cows, the heifers (first-time calvers), and any of the other cows which have not got in calf successfully by AI. The beef bull in this system may be of almost any beef breed, but the Hereford is one of the most widely used – one reason for its popularity is that the white face from the Hereford makes it very easy to avoid confusion between the cross-bred and pure-bred calves at birth.

Uses

Black Herefords are intermediate in type between their beef sire and dairy dam, making them hardy and healthy, and suitable for rearing on grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

. When well-grown, all the males and most of the females will normally be killed for beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

. Females not needed for beef may be kept for breeding further beef animals – they are put to another beef bull and allowed to rear their own calves on grass as single sucklers.

Similar types

• Black Baldy
  Black Baldy
  Black Baldy is a type of crossbred beef cattle produced by crossing Hereford cattle with a solid black breed, usually Aberdeen Angus. Angus bulls are also used on Hereford heifers in an attempt to produce smaller calves and reduce dystocia. The term is particularly used in Australia and New Zealand...
  
  , found in Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
   and North America
  North America
  North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
  
  , another hybrid beef type, black with white head, derived from a Hereford crossed with an Aberdeen Angus.
• Black Hereford (breed)
  Black Hereford (breed)
  The Black Hereford is a beef cattle breed, derived mainly from Hereford cattle , but with some mixture from black Angus cattle, resulting in black cattle with a white head and finching.-Characteristics:...
  
  , a black colour variety of Hereford cattle
• Groningen, a traditional dairy pure breed from Holland, black (or sometimes red) with a white head.