Pineywoods cattle

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Once a common site across the deep South, Pineywoods are an endangered breed of heritage cattle renowned for their hardiness, reproductive prowess, and the important role they played in southern American history. Also known as "Woods" or "Rakestraw" cattle, they're closely related to other land-race breeds of "criollo" cattle like the Florida Cracker and Texas Longhorn. Pineywoods are believed to be direct descendants of the original stock brought to America by the first settlers and Spanish explorers in the 1500s, and since that time they've spent centuries adapting to the subtropical environment of the Southeast. 

Back then fences were scarce and land was plentiful, so Pineywoods were largely left to their own devices and allowed to roam the long-leaf pine wilderness of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana. During their time in the woods, there were no farmers to pull calves and no vets to treat illness... so the strong survived and the weak did not. This led to a resilient breed of land-race cattle, sculpted by nature, uniquely suited to the challenges faced by livestock in the deep South. Over time, the more docile cattle were tamed down to serve as milk cows and draft oxen, while "wild" feral herds were left to roam the woods as self-sufficient beef cattle that be rounded up periodically for harvest. Despite the heavy disease pressure and uncultivated grazing, Pineywoods managed to thrive in a region of the US that modern cattle struggled to survive in prior to veterinary antibiotics and vaccines. Centuries of natural selection in this unforgiving subtropical environment permitted survival of only the fittest, sculpting them into a resilient and prolific breed able to thrive in the deep South without the coddling that commercial cattle breeds require. 

Pineywoods are an authentic reflection of American grit and a storied part of our Southern heritage, that we almost lost forever when cattlemen were swayed by the allure of bigger "better" beef. Before vaccinations, antibiotics, and antiparasitics allowed modern "improved" breeds to invade the south, Pineywoods were commonplace on deep south homesteads serving as beef cattle, milk cows, and draft oxen. They still serve those purposes well, but are far less common today largely due to the industrialization of agriculture and the successful marketing campaigns of bigger beef breeds like Angus and Hereford. In fact it wasn't long ago that Pineywoods were on the brink of extinction as more and more old south families traded their old woods cattle in at the sale barn for something bigger and "better"... but thanks to a handful of families staying true to the breed that helped their ancestors colonize this land, along with heroic efforts by the Livestock Conservancy, this historic breed is well on its way to recovery and has a bright future ahead. 

Despite their centuries of largely feral existence, Pineywoods are surprisingly docile and make ideal homestead cattle. Additionally, as a resilient heritage breed that thrives under low-input management systems, Pineywoods are a natural fit here at TotM Sheep & Cattle Co. Our breeding program is still in its infancy, but out of the handful of family strains we started with, we've whittled our efforts down to focusing on the production of Conway and Griffin breeding stock in conjunction with composite (mixed-strain) beef production.

If you're interested in learning more about this important and incredible breed of heritage cattle, check out these links:

Pineywoods Cattle Registry and Breeder's Association 

The Livestock Conservancy