History | Bestyet A.I Sires | Grazing Genetics from Dutch Belted and Milking Shorthorns

Truly Dual-Purpose Milking Shorthorns

by Winifred Hoffman | Dec 17, 2019 | Genetics, History

This fresh 4-year-old Flashback daughter exemplifies how our dual-purpose cows put on flesh when dry and milk it off to provide plenty of milk for the calf and for the farmer. Updated 12/1/2022 Breed history “The Breed That Fills Every Need” was the tagline for...

Reflections of a Second-Generation Breeder

by Martha Hoffman | Nov 13, 2019 | Genetics, History

The cows chose me, you could say. I was born into the family legacy of heritage grazing cattle, and I’ve never known life without them....

Bestyet James—First Bestyet Dutch Belted A.I. Sire

by bestyet | Aug 9, 2019 | Genetics, History

By Kenneth and Winifred Hoffman Bestyet James was our first homebred Bestyet A.I. sire 35 years ago who started us on the path of providing a wide range of quality genetics from this rare breed that has been otherwise bypassed by the commercial dairy...

The Saga of Meriville Peerless: Long Journey from Northumberland to the Midwest and Back Again

by bestyet | Jul 23, 2019 | Genetics, History

Mericrest Kewpie, five years old in this photo, is one of many excellent Peerless daughters. She is the dam of Mericrest Picasso and full sister to Meriville Outstanding-P’s sire. By Kenneth Hoffman This history of one of our most influential bulls is told in...

“Whatever You Do, Don’t Get Rid of the Dutch Belts”: Dorothy O’Neill Hornback’s Impact on the Breed

by Martha Hoffman | May 23, 2019 | Genetics, History

Updated 2/21/2024 More than forty years ago, the Dutch Belted breed was perilously close to extinction. This was when my late father, Kenneth Hoffman, discovered Dorothy O’Neill Hornback and her herd of purebred Dutch Belts in Manteno, Illinois. About Dorothy O’Neill...

82 years of breeding

by Winifred Hoffman | Jun 7, 2018 | Genetics, History

We are family breeders of dual-purpose cattle dating back 82 years to 1936 when the parents of my late husband Kenneth married and started out with a small herd of Milking Shorthorns and a local butter and cream route that the children helped with as they...