Agricultural History Review, Volume 50 Part 1 (2002), pp. 69–88

The most recognisable characteristic of the Hereford breed of cattle is its white face. This prepotent feature confers an advantage where visual evidence of ancestry is needed, and has huge economic importance in the commercial cattle trade, far outside the confines of the pedigree world. Hereford bulls were used extensively to upgrade cattle populations when there was a need for increased and improved meat supplies. In the late nineteenth century, when unimproved range cattle were upgraded to useful beef animals, the Hereford was more successful internationally than at home. In mid-twentieth century Britain the breed dominated the commercial beef trade, due to demand for beef from dairy-bred calves. The paper offers insights into the interaction between the pedigree and commercial sectors of the livestock industry in the improvement of national cattle stocks. 

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