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Beef Cattle Breeds

Beefmaster Cattle: Tom Lasater's Six Essentials for South Texas Ranching

A Texas-bred composite of Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman selected on six economic traits.

What Are Beefmaster Cattle?

Beefmaster cattle were developed by Tom Lasater, who began the work in the early 1930s. The Beefmaster Breeders United about page says Lasater wanted cattle that would make money in South Texas's harsh environment during hard economic times, and that he used systematic crossing of Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman.

The breed has no color standards. Brownish-red is the most common color, the page reports, but the focus was always on function instead of looks.

The Six Essentials

Beefmaster breeding rests on six traits: weight, conformation, milk production, fertility, hardiness and disposition. The association says Beefmasters are the only beef breed specifically developed to excel in these economic traits, a claim that comes from the association itself.

A farm-press explainer, 6 essential traits for improving your herd, describes the same list from a producer's point of view.

Recognition and Association

According to the association, the USDA recognized Beefmasters as a pure breed in 1954. Beefmaster Breeders United was founded in 1961. The page does not describe a separate 1954 breeders association, so this profile does not either.

Expansion beyond South Texas picked up rapidly in the early 1970s. From 1974 to 1998 BBU membership grew from 300 to nearly 7,000, and the association says it ranks among the top five U.S. beef breed registries by membership and the top ten by registrations.

Why Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman?

The three parent breeds each brought something different, and the association's account of the method is brief but consistent. Hereford and Shorthorn were the British beef breeds then common on American ranches. Brahman cattle, of Indian origin, were the heat-tolerant element. Lasater combined them by systematic crossing rather than by simply adding Brahman blood to a Hereford herd.

The association's page does not give the exact fractions of each breed, so this profile does not either. What it does say is that the goal was economic, with six traits chosen to make a ranch profitable instead of to win in the show ring.

A Profit-Minded Method

The through line in the association's account is economics. Lasater's goal was cattle that earned money in dry, hot country in a hard economic time, and the six essentials list translates that goal into traits a breeder can measure.

The page does not give breed fractions or herd sizes, and the Cattle Site breed profile and the Oklahoma State profile offer other summaries that readers can compare.

What Made It Work

Beefmaster succeeded because it was built around one clear business question: which cattle pay in South Texas. It also benefited from a founder willing to keep working on it for decades.

There are limits to what the documentation shows. The association page is promotional and gives no comparisons with other breeds.

  • Lasater started with a goal, cattle that profit in a harsh environment, rather than a look.
  • He crossed three breeds, Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman, systematically.
  • Six essentials gave breeders a checklist of traits to select on.
  • USDA recognition in 1954 and the 1961 BBU gave formal standing.
  • Membership grew from 300 in 1974 to nearly 7,000 in 1998, per the association.

Learn More

For more Texas ranch history, see the ranching section of farm.FM. One farm.FM story about Beefmaster cattle follows the breed on a working ranch.

Timeline

  1. 1930Tom Lasater begins developing Beefmasters (early 1930s)
  2. 1954USDA recognizes Beefmasters as a pure breed
  3. 1961Beefmaster Breeders United founded
  4. 1970Rapid expansion beyond South Texas begins (early 1970s)
  5. 1974BBU membership about 300
  6. 1998BBU membership nearly 7,000

Frequently asked questions

Who developed the Beefmaster breed?

Tom Lasater began developing Beefmasters in the early 1930s, crossing Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle to produce animals that could earn money in harsh South Texas conditions.

What are the six essentials of Beefmaster cattle?

Beefmaster Breeders United lists them as weight, conformation, milk production, fertility, hardiness and disposition. Breeders select on these traits rather than on a color standard.

When was Beefmaster recognized as a breed?

Beefmaster Breeders United says the USDA recognized Beefmasters as a pure breed in 1954, and the association itself was founded in 1961.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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