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| A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOWLINE CATTLE | |||||||||||||||
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The Trangie Research Centre in 1929 established an Angus herd to provide
quality breeding stock for the NSW cattle industry. Top quality imports from Canada, the
United States, and Scotland added to the breeding base through 1964, at which time the
herd was closed to outside animals. In 1963 the Australian Meat Research Committee asked the Trangie Research Centre to pioneer performance testing of beef cattle in Australia, using visual conformation scores and weight gain as criteria for selecting replacement breeding stock. This project was continued until 1970. In 1974 another project was begun which continued to 1993, and defined whether large or small animals had the most efficient conversion rates of grass into meat. Trangie researchers formed one herd selected for high yearling growth rates and called them High Line, formed another herd using low yearling growth rates as selection criteria and called them Low Line, then formed a control group of randomly chosen animals and tagged them Control Line. Using precise evaluations of feed intake, weight gain, milk production, reproductive performance, carcass yield, overall quality and structural soundness, they determined the Low Line group to be most efficient. The Trangie herd was dispersed at auction in 1993 and an Australian Lowline Cattle Association formed, requiring that all fullblood Lowlines in the Herd Book trace to the Trangie herd. Imports to the US then required an American registry, which is based in Kansas City, MO. |
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WHY RAISE LOWLINES? |
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| Combining the legendary meat quality of one of the oldest known
cattle breeds, Angus, with 60 years of selection for structure, breeding soundness, and
carcass quality produced on grass forage has produced a unique breed of down-sized Angus
ideally suited for small acreage farms. Two Lowline cows can graze and gain on the same amount of forage required to support one full sized cow. Earlier maturation and high reproductive efficiency enable faster establishment of your breeding herd from that first purchase of foundation animals. A docile and friendly temperament, along with smaller size, makes these cattle so much easier to handle that heavy fencing and equipment necessary for full sized cattle are not required to manage Lowlines. This easy disposition and smaller size also makes them ideal as 4-H projects and for showing by junior handlers or ladies. Market demand remains consistently high for breeding stock as well as a
secondary market for organically grown steers to provide freezer-sized beef sides with
little to no waste, benefitting today's smaller families.
And they are dandy pets, yard art, and lawnmowers.
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