What are disadvantages of the Hereford?

Answer 1

As everyone should know, no breed of cattle is perfect. Thus the disadvantages of Hereford cattle include the following:

• Not all Herefords are calm, docile animals. You will still get the occasional crazy animal.
• Milk production is deemed poor by most breeders.
• Best as a maternal breed, not fraternal/terminal - this means they are better off as a breed for producing females than for producing cattle destined for the feedlot.
• Not exactly suitable for areas which produce high-quality forage on a consistent basis. These cows are more for the poorer-quality rangelands versus the high-quality pastures suitable for larger, more nutritient-demanding cows (such as dairy cows)
• When finishing, can put on fat too quickly too soon, creating more waste in terms of fat in the carcass than what is desirable. This is more in reference to high-concentrate diets versus grass-finishing diets.
• Small to moderate-frame size
• Not black (still important in the USA beef market--black hides get you the premiums)
• Some past strains prone to sunburned udders, pink-eye, cancer-eye, and vaginal prolpases
• Many strains are horned, though increasingly more strains are polled
• Some people don't like the rugged, rough looks of Hereford cows, others do.