British White Cattle capture American hearts.

What a pretty pastoral scene ... beautiful white cows, with distinctive black ears, eyes and noses, contentedly grazing with their frisky calves on the lush green grass of spring pastures. These rare British White cattle are a calm, gentle breed, which makes them a good choice for small livestock producers. Their gentle nature makes it easier to move them and work with them. This breed is noted for calving ease, thus less time is needed to help with difficult deliveries. They adapt well to different climates and feed resources, so can easily be raised almost anywhere. We have personally sold our British Whites to many breeders across the US with good results--states as far north as the Dakotas and Minnesota, down to Texas, and from Vermont on the east coast to the western states of Nevada and Arizona.

Bohaty history

Bohaty's British White Farm is located in east central Nebraska on the fertile Platte River valley near the small town of Bellwood. Waiter's dad was born on this farm and Walter has lived here most of his life. Walter and Nancy have two children. Diane, an animal science and ag-business graduate from the University of Nebraska, is a meat marketer for the Excel Packing Plant based in Boise, ID. Scott is a freshman at Central Community College in Columbus, NE and will transfer to the University of Nebraska planning to major in natural resources.

We purchased our first British White Cattle in 1982 from the G&G Ranch in Missouri. We had been using an Angus bull and a Pinzgauer bull and were pulling a lot of calves. After purchasing a British White bull our time spent in the calf-pulling barn was nearly eliminated. We liked the cattle so well that we have built up our herd by keeping replacement heifers, purchasing more animals, and artificial insemination using purebred and English fullblood semen. We now run about 100 head of registered cows making us the largest breeder of registered British White cattle in the US.

Working cattle

Our herd grazes on native grass pastures during the summer months, using a rotational grazing system which allows the herd to access fresh grass every three to 10 days while allowing other parcels of grass to re-grow undisturbed. These paddocks range from about eight to 15 acres each (we have about nine to 12 paddocks in each pasture) and are separated by a two wire, high-tensile electric fence powered by a low impedance electric fencer. An underground water line supplies water to a portable 150-gallon tank, which is moved to a new paddock each time the cattle are rotated to fresh grass. We have found that we are able to graze more cattle per acre using this system than we could before we divided our pastures. Cattle will always eat the best tasting grasses first. This rotation system forces them to clean up the less palatable grasses before they are allowed to move to the next paddock.

The calves are weaned in the fall just about the time the cows go to the stalk fields. Two weeks prior to weaning the calves, we vaccinate all the calves, and the bulls that will not be kept for breeding stock are castrated. This puts less stress on the steers as they have time to recover before they are weaned. Two weeks later the calves are weaned. At this time they are treated for internal and external parasites and given their booster vaccinations. The cows are also treated for parasites and examined to determine an expected calving date. We have a scale in our cattle-working chute and both the cows and the calves are weighed at this time. We use these weights as well as visual appraisal of the calves to determine which cows are doing an adequate job of raising their calves, and those that are not can be culled from the herd.

After harvest the cows graze the stalks and soybean stubble. These crop residues provide their nutritional needs, energy from the corn stalks and protein from the soybean stubble. The cattle will be able to graze the stalk fields until February if the snows don't cover the forage. If the snow is too deep in the fields for the cattle to find enough forage, we have to feed the cattle stored hay and corn silage produced on our farm.

In mid-February they are brought close to home for feeding and our annual Open House and Private Treaty Sale. This annual event generally occurs the second weekend in February. These two days are spent showing, informing and selling our British Whites to the many people who visit our farm. We have made many friends through this annual event. March is the time we weigh the calves kept for breeding stock to obtain a yearling weight used in our record keeping.

Calving starts around the first of March. About two weeks before calving we start feeding the cows in the evening around dusk. We have found that this encourages the calves to be born during daylight hours, and reduces the nighttime checking of cows during calving season. We have also discovered that giving the cows all the feed they want to eat at the night time feeding works better at getting the cows to calve in the daylight than if you limit-feed them, as is recommended by some nutritionists for economical reasons.

As each calf is born it is given an ear tag with the same number as its mother's. This insures that if the pair become separated we can easily determine which calf belongs with which cow. We record the calf's birth weight and other information we find helpful in registering and keeping an accurate history of each animal. The cow/calf pair is then moved to another field with other pairs. We find that this practice helps keep the calves healthier and also makes it easier to spot new calves as they are born.

Thirty days before breeding season (we put the bulls in about June 1st) the cows are vaccinated. At this time we also vaccinate the calves. Check with your local veterinarian to determine which vaccinations are recommended for cattle in your area.

A bit of British White history

British Whites, a rare, old breed, were once considered an endangered species. First recorded in the 17th century, these cattle were owned by the royalty of Great Britain and were kept by only four or five families and therefore were not widely distributed. During WWII Prime Minister Winston Churchill, fearing an invasion by Adolph Hitler, sent one bull and five cows to a Pennsylvania prison farm for safe keeping. In 1949, after the war, this herd was sold several times but kept together. Several breeders who wanted to promote the cattle and better the breed started the British White Cattle Association of America in 1987. Several British White bulls and semen have been imported from England and have widely influenced the bloodlines of the breed in America.

Characteristics of the breed

The American British White cow is moderate size--1,000 to 1,500 pounds--and bulls range from 1,800 to 2,300 pounds. They are polled although occasionally a "scur" will be observed. Scurred animals may be registered if the scur has not been removed. Both cows and bulls are very docile in nature. The cow udders are well set with small black teats. Back lines are straight with a slight slope to the tail head. The bulls' scrotums are well shaped and large in size.

British Whites are a breed noted for their fertility, calving ease, and efficiency. They have a lean and tender carcass with superior milking ability and hardiness. First calf heifers have good maternal instincts, claiming their calves and get them up and started nursing soon after birth.

They are known to be gentle with lots of milk. We often take guests out to the pasture and walk among the cows and their banes without disturbing them. Our veterinarian agrees that this breed causes less trouble in the chute. That calm, gentle nature pays off in the feedlot where calm calves will fatten on less feed than nervous calves. Purebred or English crossed steers will finish out at 1,100 to 1,200 pounds-choice, with a 62-63% carcass to live weight.

For more pictures and information about our cattle and farm, check out our website at www.british cattle.com. The Bohaty's became charter members of the British White Cattle Association of America (www.britishwhite.org) in 1988. Walter has served on the Association's Board of Directors since 1989, was president from 1990-92, and is currently the secretary. They have made many friends because of their involvement with this association.

WALTER AND NANCY BOHATY 1371 42ND RD. BELLWOOD, NE 68624 402-367-4741 [e-mail] WWW.BRITISHCATTLE.COM