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Murray Grey History

The Murray Grey originated along the Murray River that divides New South Wales and Victoria, in southern New South Wales, Australia. In 1905, Peter and Eva Sutherland owned a particular roan Shorthorn cow, that when bred to various Aberdeen Angus bulls, birthed only grey calves. These calves varied only a bit in coloring, from a silvery-grey to a solid silver brindle. Eva thought the misty colored cattle were pretty, so she wouldn't let Peter slaughter them. By 1917 they had 12 head.

Peter passed on in 1929, and Eva wasn't up to managing everything, so she sold the grey cattle to a cousin by the mane of Helen Sutherland who then continued to breed the original 12; 4 bulls and 12 cows. These cattle were the beginnings of a new breed of cattle. In the early 1940's a second Murray Grey herd was formed when Mervyn Gadd laid eyes on them and saw dollar signs. Although Mervyn swore that the Greys were a more robust breed, and better weight gainers to boot, it wasn't until the late 1950's that the breed became popular.

In 1962 the Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society of Austrailia was formed by fifty or so breeders. In 1969, three importers; New Breeds Inc., Murray Grey USA, and Firetree Production Stock brought Murray Grey semen to the United States. Soon after Murray Greys started winning competitions, most notably carcass classes, more and more of the cattle industry took notice. Since then it has been all downhill.