The Founder of Animal Breeding

Robert Bakewell of Dishley (1726 to 1795)–an English farmer of remarkable sagacity and hard, common sense–was the first great improver of cattle in England.  His objective was to breed cattle that would yield the greatest quantity of good beef rather than to obtain great size.

Bakewell had the imagination to picture the future needs of a growing population in terms of meat and set about creating a low-set, blocky, quick-maturing type of beef cattle. He paid little or no attention to fancy points. Rather, he was intensely practical, and no meat animal met with his favor unless it had the ability to put meat on the back.

Bakewell’s efforts with cattle were directed toward the perfection of the English Longhorn, a class of cattle common to the Tees River area. He also contributed greatly to the improvement of the Leicester breed of sheep, and the Shire horse.

Success crowned his patient skill and unwearied efforts. But success in breeding was no mere happenstance in Bakewell’s program. Careful analysis of his methods reveals that three factors were paramount:

1. a definite goal as evidenced by the joints that he preserved in pickle and the skeletons of the more noted animals that adorned his halls,
2. a breeding system characterized by “breeding the best to the best” regardless of relationship, rather than crossing breeds as was the common practice of the time, and
3. a system of proving sires by leasing them at fancy prices to his neighbors, rather than selling them.

Because of Bakewell’s methods and success, he has often been referred to as the founder of animal breeding.

Bakewell’s experiments were the top news of the day, and his successes the subject of much comment, both oral and written. The American poet Emerson, for example, said of the British farmer, “he created sheep, cows and horses to order…the cow is sacrificed to her bag, the ox to his sirloin.”

By the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, Bakewell’s methods were widely practiced in England, and sheep and cattle were raised more for their flesh than formerly. A new era of livestock improvement was born.

As an indication of this change, it is interesting to observe the increase in weights of animals at the famous Smithfield market. In 1710, beeves had averaged 370 lbs., calves 50 lbs., sheep 28 lbs., and lambs 18 lbs.; whereas in 1795 they had reached 800, 148, 80, and 50 lbs. respectively. 

Although the effect of improved agriculture is not to be minimized, the main influence in this transformation can be attributed to Robert Bakewell, whose imagination, initiative, and courage put a firm foundation under improved methods of livestock breeding.

Excerpt from “Beef Cattle Science,” by M. E. Ensminger, B.S., M.A., Ph.D.
Copyright 1976 by The Interstate Printers & Publishers, Inc.