In about 1780, Richard Hall was among a small band of Herefordshire farmers that saw the potential in a breed of cattle that is now known as the Hereford. Richard and his descendants bred and registered these cattle for nearly 150 years and Norman Hall (my father) was destined to take over the herd. Identified in Volume 1 of the Hereford Herd Book, Cotmore Herefords was the oldest herd of Hereford
cattle in the world, renowned for breeding females and for which there are any records. In my retirement I set about tracking down the bloodline. Eventually I found it among the “Traditional” Hereford population in England where it is very strong. Traditional Herefords, ones that contain only English Hereford bloodlines (as distinct from Modern Herefords that have emerged since the 1970’s and contain North American Bloodlines with short pedigrees) are an endangered breed of native English farm animals, nominated on the register of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. In 1992 there was only about 200 breeding females remaining. In 2013 I imported over 100 Traditional Hereford embryos into Australia that are descended from the family herd. The first of these calves were born in the spring of 2014 with more to come in each of the next two years. On learning of my project, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust of the UK asked me to participate in the recovery of the breed as they wanted them protected from disease, especially Mad Cow and Foot and Mouth disease. Cotmore Downs was specially selected for the breeding of these cattle.
