Florida Cracker cattle
A Criollo breed from Florida, conserved since the 1970s.
The Florida Cracker, also known as the Florida Scrub, is an American breed of cattle originating in Spanish Florida and named for the Florida cracker culture. It is a Criollo breed descended from Spanish cattle brought to the Americas by conquistadores, and unlike the closely related Pineywoods, it has not been interbred with North European breeds.
Quick Facts
- Country
- United States
- Distribution
- fifteen states, from the eastern seaboard to Montana
- Use
- formerly triple-purpose, heritage conservation
- Maleweight
- 360–550 kg / 794–1,213 lb; 794–1,213 lb / 360–550 kg
- Femaleweight
- 270–360 kg / 595–794 lb; 595–794 lb / 270–360 kg
- Coat
- very variable
- Horn
- horned in both sexes
- Subspecies
- taurus
Facts from the source article.
History
The Florida Cracker derives from cattle brought by conquistadores from Spain to the Americas from 1493 onward, numbering no more than 300 head and landed on Hispaniola and other Caribbean islands. Cattle from Cuba were landed in Spanish Florida in 1565, with another shipment from the same source in 1640. By the early eighteenth century, the cattle in Spanish Florida and parts of modern Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi were estimated between two figures. These triple-purpose animals were managed extensively in semi-feral conditions. The breed was the principal one in the state until the early twentieth century, when heat-tolerant zebuine cattle like the Brahman arrived, followed by European taurine cattle. Indiscriminate cross-breeding by mid-century brought the Florida Cracker to near disappearance; after 1949, laws on free-roaming livestock contributed to its rapid decline. The Florida state government has been active in conservation since the 1970s. The Florida Cracker Cattle Association formed in 1989 with state support, and a herd-book was established in 1991. In 2010 the breed population was about 500 breeding cows and about 150 bulls; in 2022 the number was estimated between two figures. The breed is listed as threatened by The Livestock Conservancy and is included in the Ark of Taste of the Slow Food Foundation. It was declared the official state heritage cattle breed in 2018.
Characteristics
The cattle are generally small, with bulls and cows each having a weight range. A smaller dwarf type, known as the Guinea, weighed about 230 kg or less. Coat color and pattern are highly variable, with solid blacks, duns and reds, with or without brindling, more common in southern Florida, while color-sided, finched, roan and spotted patterns are more often seen in the northern part of the state. Horns vary in shape and size, and naturally polled animals occur.
More in Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy
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