Originations and information on the Murray Grey breed

est. 1905

The first Murray Grey cattle were born to the crossing of a particular Shorthorn cow, and an Aberdeen Angus bull in the Murray River region of Australia. The first calves had such a unique color, they were kept simply out of curiosity.

Over time, this Shorthorn cow had 13 grey calves from different Aberdeen bulls that were all retained by the farmstead, and those offspring were kept seperate from the rest of the breeding herd. Years later those calves consistently produced grey offspring with similar characteristics. With the best of both worlds, a new breed emerged and so humbly began the Murray Grey breed.

The first herds of Murray Greys were established in Australia in the 1940’s, and the first semen arrived in the United States in 1969 resulting in calves born in the 1970’s. These early Murray Greys were not large enough framed for the US markets, however breeder persistence in the US continued the establishment of one of the fastest growing breeds known today.

Murray Grey cattle have been long revered for many traits valuable to the organic and low input producer. Murray Greys are:

- Naturally polled, and will poll 90% of their calves when bred to a horned breed.

- producing vigorous calves, that are smaller and easy to birth.

- Gentle and easy to work with.

- Dark pigmented and do not carry the skin concerns of normal light hided cattle.

- Heavy milkers and tend to produce very large weaning ratios.

- Excelling in high yielding carcass performance, with consistently high tenderness and marbling on grass alone. With up to 12% larger ribeye area than other breeds, and less back fat, they are preferred by butchers worldwide.

- Extremely fertile.

- producing healthy calves well into their teens, with little to no birthing problems or udder problems.

- Adaptable and can be found thriving in every climate in the world.

Murray Greys can range in color from silver to dark grey to even black in the US markets. They are wonderful for small homesteads, beginning cattle people, small acreage, commercial herds, DTC, and for anyone in between.

Murray Grey genetics are slim in the Unites States, and it is not uncommon for US producers to be relying on decades old semen to produce Murray Grey calves from another era. Quite a few Australian stud farms were established in the origination period of the breed, and can still be found today with original bloodlines from the breed’s beginnings. Many US Murray Greys have been bred up to purebred, with an open registration herd book designed to diversify and increase the genetic pool.

The only hinderance to the Murray Grey breed in the Unites States is the market’s preference to black hided cattle. With the farm to table restructuring, we can only hope this marketing ploy will end and consumers realize that good beef come in every hide color!

Murray Greys are the best kept secret of the cattle world, and we at Stillwater Ranch are proud to be active in the promotion and spread of what we consider to be the best breed in the world.