Randall Lineback

The Randall Lineback is what is left of the lineback cattle once common across New England. The line probably came together from Dutch, English, Swedish and French stock, and farmers kept them for all three jobs: milk, beef and ox work.

Almost all of them were bred away into Holsteins over the last century. The breed carries the Randall name because one Vermont family kept a closed herd for more than eighty years without crossbreeding. When Everett Randall died the herd was dispersed and most of the animals went to slaughter. A small group was saved, and every Randall Lineback alive descends from it.

The coat is the giveaway: blue-black with a white stripe down the spine, roan sides running anywhere from near black to near white, and black nose, eye rings, ears, feet and teats. Blue, gray and recessive red turn up too.

They are medium-sized and horned. Cows run 600 to 1,100 pounds and bulls 1,000 to 1,800, and most cows are built like dairy cows. The gene pool is narrow, so pedigree matters more here than in most breeds.