Genomics, and in many cases single trait EPD selections, has become all the rage in the beef cattle business. “Cookie Cutter” beef cattle are just around the corner as we have seen in the swine, chicken, turkey, and to a great extent the dairy industry thanks to the aforementioned trends. We believe the preservation and improvement of Heritage Shorthorns can play an important role in maintaining genetic diversity in the Shorthorn breed while providing alternatives for those Shorthorn breeders who are not caught up in the hype of “the next great bull” or simply “all in for Show Shorthorns”. The advertising trick of promoting the “next great bull/cow” is a constant in the seedstock production model. Rightly or wrongly this charade must continue for them to stay in business.

The recent narrow genetic basis of Heritage “Native” Shorthorns has been a limiting factor in both the production and expansion of Heritage Shorthorns. With the advent of Shorthorn Select Genetics (SSG) in 2017 those impediments were removed. Long before the inception of SSG we had become dedicated to the accumulation of rare, quality, old Shorthorn semen which we utilized to build our own Heritage Shorthorn herd (whisperinghillsfarm.com). Over the last 15 years we have been assimilating information, improving our cow herd all with goal of changing the paradigm the current Shorthorn herd model is based on—the continually promoted Show Shorthorn or Show Steer herd. Consistent long term improvements should be the goal in Shorthorn herds, rather than only embracing short term “payoffs” that can quickly lead to disaster as exemplified by the “belt buckle era” (extremely small & short-legged cattle) in the 1950’s, and then the 1980’s & 90’s “tall trend” (tall, leggy cattle). We have endeavored to provide both unique and useful Heritage Shorthorn semen and embryos which avoid extremes, and which will improve any herd.

Bulls in our reference inventory were collected and ultimately selected for specific reasons not just because they might have been available. An old Heritage Shorthorn bull is not necessarily a good bull just because he was collected or promoted. Both phenotypical and genotypical characteristics were utilized in our selection process along with available pedigree information. In addition, research and extensive discussions with many long time Shorthorn breeders, provided additional insight and allowed us to make a final decision on whether to incorporate a particular bull in our inventory. Many bulls were rejected because they did not meet our rigorous standards. It should be added that EPD information on old Shorthorn bulls does not provide any meaningful help in the selection process because the data input was almost non-existent during that period. Any EPD information would be a guesstimate at best.

Our cow herd is the “secret sauce” in the Shorthorn Select Genetics production of both semen and embryos. They live in a grass fed real world environment and have been selected to produce offspring that will work in a variety of Shorthorn breeding programs. Because we strive to have Shorthorn genetics that will work for everyone we place an enormous emphasis on temperament. Every cow that we use as a donor has a temperament that will fit with all management systems including the smaller producer/family who is unlikely to have the facilities to deal with “bad attitude cows”.