American Kerry and Dexter Cattle Club - Volume One

[kansasdexters]

I've stumbled onto a great find today!! Here is a link to the online scanned version of the first herd book of the American Kerry and Dexter Cattle Club, published in 1921:
www.archive.org/details/americankerrydex00amer

For those of you interested in knowing about the original importations into the United States from Ireland and England, Volume One has an impressive collection of information and photos. If you are curious about white markings, it also notes the animals that had white markings. If you are curious about red Dexters, it has those noted. You can download a PDF file with the entire first herd book!

Sincerely,

Patti Adams

WAKARUSA RIDGE RANCH
www.kansasdexters.com

[legendrockranch]

Thanks for the link Patti,

I haven't had the time to digest it all yet but I did notice that on page 63, "Bell of Hempstead House" her color is noted as: body brown, switch black, udder some white.

Could she have been one of the first duns in the U.S.?

[kansasdexters]

Hi Genebo,

All of the registered Kerry cattle in North America today are descended from an importation of registered Kerry cattle (11 heifers and a bull) that was made into Canada from Ireland in 1971 by Dr. Russell Scott of Belleville, Ontario. This importation established the "Russell Herd". All of these animals were registered with the Royal Dublin Society in Ireland.

Since 1993, owners of Kerry Cattle in Canada have had the option of registering either in Ireland or in the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation (CLRC) General Stud and Herd Book.

Until January 1, 2008, owners of Kerry Cattle in the United States could register with either the Kerry Cattle Society LTD (in Cahernane, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland) or with the CLRC in Canada. After January 1, 2008, all North American Kerry registrations had to be made with the CLRC in Canada.

The importations of Kerry cattle that were made into the United States in the early 1900's suffered, as did many other registered breeds, from the economic effects of World War I and World War II and the Great Depression in the 1930's. Breeding and registering purebred livestock took a back seat to survival.

If you study the American Kerry and Dexter Cattle Club Herd Book, Volume One, you will notice that even though Elmendorf Farm was a major importer of Kerry cattle in the early 1900's, they didn't register the offspring with the American Kerry and Dexter Cattle Club. There were only a handful of other Kerry breeders in the United States at the time, so the lack of registrations and available registered animals soon dwindled to the point that there were none registered after only a few years. That lack of breeder participation resulted in the disappearance of registered Kerry cattle from the United States until Dr. Russell Scott of Ontario, Canada, owner of the major Kerry herd in North America, decided to retire and disperse his herd in 1988. Some animals from this dispersal (a cow and a heifer) were sold to the American Frontier Culture Farm in Virginia, establishing the "Frontier Herd". Subsequent importations from Canada provided additional registered Kerry cattle into the United States, along with bull semen imported from Canada and Ireland and used for artificial insemination breeding in the United States.

In 2008, I collected an outstanding, registered Kerry bull, Kelmscott's Seamus, and exported his semen to Eastern Breeders, in Canada and to Genetic Enterprises in New Zealand. Kerry cattle are excellent for enhancing grass-based dairy operations and the Kerry semen is used primarily in cross-breeding with other dairy breeds for this purpose.

This was the first exportation of Kerry bull semen from the United States into Canada and New Zealand. I also have CSS-certified semen for Kelmscott's Seamus available for sale in the United States (if anyone is interested in crossbreeding their cattle with an outstanding Kerry bull).

Sincerely,

Patti Adams

WAKARUSA RIDGE RANCH
www.kansasdexters.com