Polled Hereford

The Polled Hereford is a Hereford without horns. It began in 1901, when an Iowa breeder named Warren Gammon read the report of a livestock exposition, wrote to Hereford breeders across the country asking whether any of them had naturally hornless animals, and bought the handful that answered.

Everything else about the breed is Hereford: the red body and white face, the temperament, the ability to raise a calf on ordinary grass, the long-lived cows.

What the polled gene removes is a job. No dehorning means no setback to the calf, no wound to manage, and less risk to handlers and to other cattle in a trailer.

The trade is the same as the Hereford's. The white face still burns, and pigmentation around the eye is still worth selecting for.