Tex. Longhorn Coming Back Into Markets

Once replaced by a fatter breed of cattle, the legendary Texas longhorn is on the comeback trail in grocery stores as Americans become more health-conscious, cattle raisers say.

“Probably the largest hurdle we have is convincing old-time cattle raisers they need to change,” Bill Anthony, president of the International Texas Longhorn Assn., said at the group’s first meeting Thursday.

Anthony, an Ardmore, Okla., rancher, started raising longhorns 25 years ago and has fallen in love with the breed.

“They are extremely intelligent. You can make house pets out them if you want,” he said.

But it’s not their intelligence that is putting them back on the market.

“The bottom line is the longhorn has qualities consumers want on their dinner plates and the qualities many ranchers are seeking to develop in their livestock,” said Mike Moeller, deputy state agriculture commissioner.

Moeller said longhorn beef has 10% fat and yields a greater percentage of lean beef than any other breed. The hardy breed had been replaced by fatter stock by the turn of the century.

For ranchers, longhorns are a low-maintenance, genetic gold mine.

Descended from Spanish cattle brought here centuries ago, the longhorn has adapted to severe climates, can forage on poor quality grass, is resistant to several diseases and produces rich milk.

When bred with other breeds, the longhorns cut down on the number of calving problems, Moeller said.

Also there is the mystique of raising an animal that helped create the cowboy and turn the country into a people of beefeaters.