The oldest pedigree cattle breed in the world celebrates its bicentenary this year, and the Beef Shorthorn Society is marking the occasion with a series of events and activities that celebrate the sustainability, the success and the future of this popular native breed.

Always a ringside favourite, this big beefy red and white breed recently boasted the highest cattle entries at this year's Royal Highland Show as the society and its members gear up for the 17th World Conference which kicks off in this week.

The formal recording of Shorthorns began with the publication of the Coates’ Herd Book in 1822, the first pedigree herd book for cattle in the world, which recorded 710 bulls and 850 cows.

After the Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established in 1875, it acquired the rights to publish the herd book, and has continued to do so. Beef breeders started their own section of the herd book in 1958, and in 2017 formed their own breed society as a result of very rapid growth in demand for Beef Shorthorn cattle. The two Shorthorn societies retain close links and are working together on bicentenary celebrations.

Clive Brown, operations manager of the Beef Shorthorn Society, said: “It is a real honour to be helping to shape the future direction of such an iconic and important breed. The Beef Shorthorn of today is ideally positioned for a farming industry that’s increasingly looking towards sustainability and resource efficient production.

"It has greatly benefitted from 200 years of careful, intentional breeding which has resulted in a form that capitalises on traditional, native traits – such as hardiness and efficient foraging – while delivering excellent yields and exceptionally well flavoured beef.

“Our bicentenary is an opportunity to celebrate where we have come from while looking ahead with confidence to a successful future; understanding that the phenomenal growth in demand for the Beef Shorthorn is a consequence of the hard work and dedication of our members, and their passion for the breed’s ongoing development.”

The focus of the bicentennial celebrations is the National Show at the Great Yorkshire Show and the 2022 World Shorthorn Conference, hosted in partnership with The UK Shorthorn Society (Dairy). This 14-day conference tour begins in London on July 7, and includes trips to Cardiff, Pembrokeshire, Cheshire, Durham and Dumfries and Galloway, plus a visit to the Great Yorkshire Show.

There are additional Scottish post-tour farm visits to beef herds in Perthshire and Inverness.

Supporting the next generation of Shorthorn farmers is an important component of the 200-year anniversary, and an online auction was recently held to raise funds to deliver a Shorthorn World Youth Programme. This new initiative invites young people aged between 18-24 years to apply for the opportunity to work on a Beef Shorthorn or Dairy farm for two weeks. Young delegates will compete and learn alongside others at the Great Yorkshire Show before joining the remainder of the World Shorthorn Conference Tour.

The Society has also recently launched a new National Herd Award which is set to run for an initial three-year period with the silverware and cash prizes provided by sponsor Pedigree Sales Online Livestock Auctions. The award has been developed to recognise the 200 years of breeding excellence across the UK and Ireland by Shorthorn farmers, which has led to the Beef Shorthorn becoming rightly known as ‘the great improver’.

10 Key Facts about the Beef Shorthorn breed

1. The Shorthorn is the oldest pedigree-registered cattle breed in the world.

2. The Shorthorn is a native breed, evolving over the last two centuries from Teeswater and Durham cattle that were found originally in the North East of England.

3. The iconic Shorthorn bull Comet, which is featured on all Society pedigree certificates, was bred by Charles Colling in 1804 and later sold at the Ketton sale in 1810 for 1000gns, becoming the first 1000gns bull ever recorded.

4. The breed was used in the early part of the 20th Century as a dual-purpose breed.

5. Known as ‘the great improver’, the Shorthorn has been enormously influential in the developing other cattle breeds, with more than 40 different breeds of cattle now incorporating Shorthorn genetics.

6. Beef Shorthorns have been developed as a separate breed since 1958.

7. The Beef Shorthorn has significant presence in many of the major beef producing countries of the world, including USA, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Uruguay.

8. The versatility within the breed means the Beef Shorthorn can just as often be spotted in the park lands of a country estate as on the top of a heather covered hill.

9. The breed is known for its maternal traits – fertile, easy calving, milky and docile – making it an ideal suckler cow.

10. Its versatility means it is suitable for a wide variety of modern day beef systems and its environmental sustainability traits are driving new demand; great foragers, hardy and highly feed efficient, the Beef Shorthorn is ideally suited to the increasingly popular low input systems.

10 Key Facts about the Beef Shorthorn Society

1. In 1822 George Coates published the first Herd Book containing 710 bulls and 850 cows and Coates’ Herd Book became the first pedigree herd book for cattle in the world.

2. The Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established in 1875 and acquired the rights to publish the Herd Book, and they have continued to compile and publish Coates’ Herd Book ever since.

3. The Shorthorn has a long held association with the Royal Family and the Beef Shorthorn Society is proud to have HRH the Princess Royal as patron.

4. In 1949 the breed reached an all-time high, with more than 25,000 female registrations and 6,707 registered bulls.

5. Just 27 years later, in 1976, the Herd Book fell to an all-time low, with just 45 herds registered.

6. Specialisation for beef and milk led to the beef breeders starting their own section of the herd book in 1958.

7. In 1976 the directors of the Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society sanctioned the use of Maine-Anjou blood into the breed to improve the muscling of the breed as well as widening the genetic base, as it was a Shorthorn derivative breed.

8. Morrisons and the Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society have worked together since 2010, and the first ever supermarket Beef Shorthorn Beef brand was launched in 2018. The range sees continued growth as well as international competition success due to its consistently excellent eating quality.

9. Increasing market demand has driven growth of the Beef Shorthorn over the last decade, growing from 241 herds registering pedigree offspring in 2005 to 591 herds in 2021.

10. Today’s Beef Shorthorns build on their traditional, native traits to deliver unrivalled sustainability gains. With a strong Herd Book of more than 3500 females and nearly 1000 bulls being registered every year, the breed is well positioned for another 200 years of sustainable farming success.

The Shorthorn 17th World Conference takes place from July 7 to July 20, at various locations around the UK. The following dates include Conference activity and visits to Beef Shorthorn farms.

Fri July, 8 Visits to Stanford Park Beef Shorthorn, Faringdon, and Charles Horton’s Hannington Beef herd, Cirencester

Fri July, 15 Shorthorn 17th World Conference, Lumley Castle Hotel, near Durham

Sat, July 16 Shorthorn 17th World Conference, World Council Meeting plus a visit to Page Farms Partnership, Beef Herd near Beadle, North Yorks

Sun, July 17 Visit to James Playfair Hannay’s Tofts Beef herd Kelso, plus Youth Show Presentation

Mon, July 18 Visit to Paul Coates’ Barwood Beef herd, Carlisle

Tue, July 19 Visits to John Thomson’s Shawhill Beef herd and James Biggar’s Chapelton Beef herd, Dumfries-shire

Wed, July 20 Visit to Carey Coombs Dunsyre Beef herd, South Lanarkshire

Thur, July 21 Visits to Major Gibb’s Glenisla Beef herd, Perthshire and Glenrinnes Beef herd, Moray

Fri, July 22 Visit to Fearn Farm Beef herd, Ross-shire