Welsh Black cattle

This article is about the black breed of Welsh cattle. For the black type of Welsh sheep, see Black Welsh Mountain sheep.

Welsh black cattle near Penderyn

The Welsh Black is a dual-purpose breed of cattle native to Wales.

History

Commercial exploitation of the breed meant that drovers would herd them to English markets. Herds from south west Wales travelled towards Hereford and Gloucester up the Tywi Valley to Llandovery. Herds from South Cardiganshire reached Llandovery through Llanybydder and Llansawel.^[1] They would then return to Wales with large amounts of money, which made them targets of bandits and highwaymen. The result was the formation in 1799 of the Banc yr Eidon in Llandovery, the Bank of the Black Ox, which was later purchased by Lloyds Bank.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, 25,000 cattle were being exported from Wales every year. Before the 1960s, few cattle were exported outside the UK, but now can be found in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Germany as well in Saudi Arabia, Jamaica and Uganda.

Welsh Black cattle are on the list of endangered native breeds in Wales.^[2]

Cornish Black

It has been speculated that the extinct black cattle of Cornwall were a closely related breed to the Welsh Black.^[3]^[4] In the nineteenth century they were described as being the same size.^[5]

Characteristics

As the name suggests, the cattle are naturally black. They generally have white horns with black tips, but these may be removed, and there are also naturally hornless (polled) strains. Red individuals occur occasionally – red and other colours were more common in the past.

Its hardy nature coupled with its habit of browsing as well as grazing makes it ideal for rough pasture such as heathland and moorland, and for conservation grazing.^[6]

Traditionally bred for both milk and beef, commercially it is now usually used only for beef.

References

↑ Pryse Jones, A.G (1972). Story of Carmarthenshire.
↑ "House of Commons debates, 14 May 2014". Retrieved 14 May 2014.
↑ Felius, Marleen (1995). Cattle breeds: an encyclopedia. Misset.
↑ Trow-Smith, Robert (2006). A History of British Livestock Husbandry, to 1700. Taylor & Francis.
↑ Miller, Philip (1835). The gardeners dictionary.
↑ "Welsh Black Cattle Society - Points of the breed". Retrieved 14 May 2014.

External links

Beef and veal

Beef cattle

Products

Cuts	Blade steak Brisket Chuck steak Fajita Filet mignon Flank steak Flap steak Hanger steak Plate steak Ranch steak Restructured steak Rib eye Rib steak Round Rump Short loin Short ribs Shoulder tender Sirloin Top sirloin Skirt steak Spare ribs Standing rib roast Strip Shank T-bone Tenderloin Tri-tip Trotters Tail

Processed	Jerky Aged Bresaola Cabeza Corned beef Frankfurter Rindswurst Ground Pastrami Meat extract

Offal	Brain Tongue Tendon Tripas Tripe Testicles

Dishes

Related meats

Other

USA beef imports	Japan Taiwan South Korea (2008 US beef protest in South Korea)

Livestock breeds of the British Isles

Cattle

Beef cattle	Angus Belted Galloway Devon Dexter English Longhorn Hereford Highland Luing Shorthorn South Devon Sussex Welsh Black

Dairy cattle	Ayrshire Guernsey Jersey Milking Shorthorn

Dual purpose	British White Gloucester Pembroke Red Poll

Primitive	Chillingham wild cattle Vaynol White Park cattle

Sheep

Extant	Beulah Speckled Face Bluefaced Leicester Border Leicester British Milk Cheviot Clun Forest Cotswold Dalesbred Derbyshire Gritstone Devon Closewool Devon Longwoolled Dorset Down English Leicester Exmoor Horn Galway Greyface Dartmoor Hampshire Herdwick Hill Radnor Kerry Hill Lincoln Llanwenog Lleyn Lonk Norfolk Horn Oxford Down Portland Romney Rough Fell Ryeland Scottish Blackface Shetland Shropshire Southdown sheep Suffolk Swaledale Teeswater Welsh Mountain Wensleydale Whitefaced Woodland Wiltshire Horn

Primitive	Boreray Castlemilk Moorit Hebridean Jacob Manx Loaghtan North Ronaldsay Soay

Extinct	Scottish Dunface

Pigs

Extant	Berkshire British Landrace British Lop British Saddleback Essex Gloucestershire Old Spots Hampshire Large Black Large White Middle White Oxford Sandy and Black Tamworth Welsh Wessex Saddleback

Extinct	Cumberland Grice Lincolnshire Curly-coated Small Black Small White Yorkshire Blue and White

Goats

Anglo-Nubian Bilberry British Alpine Golden Guernsey Irish

Poultry

Chickens	Burford Brown Cornish Derbyshire Redcap Dorking Ixworth Marsh Daisy Modern Game Modern Langshan Norfolk Grey Old English Game Old English Pheasant Fowl Orpington Rosecomb Scots Dumpy Scots Grey Sebright Sussex

Ducks	Abacot Ranger Aylesbury Orpington Khaki Campbell Magpie Shetland Welsh harlequin

Geese	Brecon Buff Shetland

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