September 2018 News

HSS is seeing a shift in the demographics of visitors to the website.  Even more visitors to the website are focusing on the Cattle for Sale and Breeder’s Ads pages.  As the fall cattle selling season unfolds, list your Shorthorns for sale on the HSS website (free to members) so you can receive the national exposure which HSS provides.

For those not familiar with “The Shorthorn World” magazine it was the precursor of the current “Shorthorn Country” magazine now published through the American Shorthorn Association.  What set “The Shorthorn World” apart from many current Shorthorn publications was the numerous articles included in each issue that discussed all aspects of raising Shorthorns.  Most of the articles were written by Shorthorn breeders and contained helpful information that the average breeder could use.  Starting January 1, 2019 as an additional service to Shorthorn breeders and in the tradition of “Shorthorn World” HSS will be initiating bi-monthly articles written by prominent Shorthorn breeders on topics relevant to most HSS members.

Bert Moore is continuing to add information in the Shorthorn History Section.

HSS is creating a 2019 wall calendar which highlights interesting “old time” and “modern” Shorthorn pictures.  It includes photos submitted by many of our members.  It will be available for purchase later this fall.  Details to follow in next month’s update.

August 2018 News

The winners of the HSS 2018 Photo Contest are Winifred Hoffman for the Classic photo “Young Breeders Assess a Calf”, and Ralph Larson for his Current/Modern photo “Big Sky Country”. 

We had lots of comments on how difficult it was for members to choose favorites because such a variety of good ones had been submitted.  Some were picturesque, some were cute, some had very clever captions, and many showed a variety of ways that Shorthorn cattle enrich our lives.  Thanks again to everyone who submitted photos and to members who took the time to send in their votes.

Bert Moore is continuing to contribute installments to the “Historic Shorthorns” section of the HSS website—be sure to check this section periodically to read what has been added.

Promoting your cattle: Currently the “Cattle for Sale” Page, “Heritage Breeders” Page and “Breeder Ads” Page are the most often visited pages on the HSS website.  If you have Shorthorn cattle or semen to sell, send us the information for posting one or more classified ads on our website—this advertising is free for members.  Pictures of the cattle for sale can be added for $8/photo, to help catch buyer’s attention.  The Breeders Ads Page is an inexpensive way to reach a national audience of people who are interested in Heritage Shorthorn cattle, to promote your herd and to highlight the type of cattle that you raise—contact the HSS office for more information.

There have been additional Heritage/Native semen codes listed on the Semen Code page in the References Section to help in identifying Heritage/Native semen that you may have in your tanks.  We do encourage all cattle breeders to have their semen tanks inventoried since there are breeders who are interested in purchasing semen on a variety of old Shorthorn bulls.  If you have Heritage/Native semen to sell, list it for free on our Semen for Sale page.

July 2018 News

HSS is proud to announce the expansion of the HSS website with the inclusion of a new section called "Historic Shorthorns" that is being authored by Dr. Bert Moore.  It will include pictures, pedigrees, and information on historically important Shorthorns over the past 120+ years.  There will be installments periodically over the next year.  The introduction and first installment (1890-1910) are now on the HSS website in the Shorthorn History section.   We believe this will be of interest to all Shorthorn Breeders whether they are members of HSS or not.

The HSS “Classic Bull” section (which covers bulls born from 1950 to 1985) has been refined. It is now also located in the Shorthorn History section.  Several additional bulls will be added over the next couple of months as information becomes available.  

HSS is still trying to gather semen code information on Heritage/Native bulls for the Reference Section, and we would appreciate any help from cattle breeders.

The Photo Contest is now closed and ballots are being sent to all HSS members for voting on favorites.  Winners will be announced in the August Update.  If you haven’t looked at the photos lately there were several recent entries in both categories.

The HSS ad highlighting Heritage Shorthorn genetics (see copy of ad in the June update below) will be published next week in the July Herd Issue of Shorthorn Country.

Several new ads have been placed on the HSS website over the last month.  We encourage members to send us classified ads for free posting on our website because of the expanding interest by buyers looking to purchase Heritage/Native Shorthorn cattle or semen.   HSS continues to hear about successful sales that members are having through contacts made via the HSS website.

The Heritage Breeders Page has been updated.  Some HSS members do not currently have Heritage Shorthorns, and have opted not to be listed on the Breeders Page.

June 2018 News

The Livestock Conservancy announced their official name change of Native Shorthorns to Heritage Shorthorns (Native).  The Livestock Conservancy states “This new name accurately reflects the breed’s history in the United States and its value for meat, milk, and draft purposes.”  The Livestock Conservancy quarterly magazine also ran an article on the Heritage Shorthorn Society, creating a surge in viewership of  the HSS website.

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HSS will have an ad in the July issue of “Shorthorn Country” promoting Heritage Shorthorns.  To the right is a preview of the upcoming ad.  Shorthorn Country was picked for the ad simply because of demographics.  We have seen 10X the increase of page viewership from ads in Shorthorn Country as compared to ads in the Milking Shorthorn Journal—simply “more bang for the HSS buck”.   HSS has plans to run ads in several different publications in 2019 to expand interest In Heritage Shorthorns.  Membership fees provide HSS with the funds to promote Heritage Shorthorns.