In 1905, on the Thologolong property of Peter Sutherland, a particular
roan Shorthorn cow, when bred to various Aberdeen Angus bulls, dropped only grey calves,
12 of them by 1917. Because Mrs. Eva Sutherland liked these grey calves, her husband
didn't slaughter them although he feared they would reflect poorly on his black Angus
herd. When her husband died in 1929, Mrs. Sutherland sold the herd of Greys to her cousin
Helen Sutherland who started a systematic breeding with 8 cows and 4 bulls.
In the early 1940's Mervyn Gadd started a second Murray Grey herd as a commercial venture,
using a grey bull from the Sutherlands and breeding up from Angus cows. Gadd was convinced
that the Greys were better and more efficient weight gainers, but is wasn't until 1957
that a demand for them developed. Butchers paid a premium price for the Greys because of
their consistent high cutability and less wastage. Breeder after breeder turned to them
and in 1962 fifty breeders banded together to form the Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society of
Australia. The name of the breed comes from the color and the site of origin along the
Murray River that divides New South Wales and Victoria.
The Murray Greys began to win carcass competitions in the early 1970's and have continued
to dominate the steer and carcass classes at the Royal Shows in Australia. Murray Greys
are one of the two breeds preferred by the Japanese for importation, due to their easy
fleshing and high-quality meat production. |
