• We watched the great frame race of the last two decades, and kept our cattle moderate in size and mature weight--even though it was unfashionable to do so.
• Then we witnessed the industry push for maximum lean, and questioned how long consumers would buy beef that's too tough, that has no flavor.
• And we wondered how long cattle producers could tolerate heavily-muscled open heifers, and bulls that couldn't get the job done when the going got tough.

The Galloway survived the frenzied days of maximum production because we recognized the breed's limitations long ago. 
 

• For generations, we've liked the way the Galloway cow produces at optimum levels--on limited resources and in rugged environments. We didn't select for maximum muscle, because we liked the way the females bred back every year.
• We didn't sacrifice targets for marbling and lean, because we liked the superior carcass traits already built into the breed.
• We kept the breed's hooves rock hard, so they could cover miles of rugged country. We selected for light birthweights, so calves would come easily and survive. We perpetuated their independent, ruddy dispositions so they could take care of themselves in the most rugged of conditions imaginable.
• We saw how a thick, woolly haircoat kept them foraging in deep snow--when the neighbor's cows were bunched up against the fence waiting for a handout.
• We maintained their natural agility and mobility to keep them moving across range and pasture with minimal environmental impacts.

The Galloway female. 
 
The Galloway female is an optimum beef production machine. Her calves are born easily, rarely requiring assistance. Her milk is strong, loaded with essential nutrients. Her udder is positioned tightly, virtually concealed. Her eyes, nose and teats are darkly pigmented. 

Her calves have outstanding health and vigor, possessing ability to make competitive gains on the ranch and in the feedyard. 

She is moderate-framed and easy-fleshing, requiring fewer pounds of feed through winter. She possesses unsurpassed fertility, enabling her to breed back each year, even when forage is scarce. Her resistance to disease and sickness is second to none. 

Government research shows that year in and year out, Galloway cows wean a higher percent calf crop than other beef breeds, and more life calves at weaning equates to bigger dividends on sale day. 
 

Galloway Beef -- a cut above the crowd. 

Galloway cattle produce beef that exceeds consumer expectations for leanness, taste and tenderness. At the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, sensory evaluation panels ranked Galloway beef head and shoulders above the 11 other breeds analyzed. In direct comparisons, Galloway ranked ... 
  

• 1st in Flavor
• 2nd in Tenderness
• 2nd in Juiciness

That tradition of beef production has enabled the breed to capture some of the most competitive carcass competitions in North America. Commercial producers, feeders and packers note how the breed "fattens from the inside out," depositing desirable marbling--taste fat--in their ribeyes long before they reach undesirable levels of cover, or waste fat--a rare, and highly sought-after characteristic. 

Galloway carcasses are moderate in weight, yet percent yield and percent retail product exceed their heavier counterparts of other breeds. They consistently produce a large amount of salable beef product. Galloway cattle have low levels of wasteful internal fat--fat that surrounds the kidneys and heart and lines the pelvis. Their carcasses are well-marbled with large ribeyes. It is often said that Galloway beef has a distinctive eating quality, superior to other breeds. 

In direct comparison between Galloway and the five other British beef breeds evaluated by U.S. Meat Animal Research in Clay Center, Nebraska, Galloway stands tall: 
 

• 1st lowest in Fat Thickness (0.48 inches)
• 1st lowest in estimated percent Kidney, Pelvic and Heart Fat (3.13%)
• 1st highest in percent Retail Product (69.7%)
• 1st lowest in percent Fat Trim (17.8%)
• 1st lowest in pounds of Fat Trim (110 lbs.)
• 2nd highest in Ribeye Area (11.28 sq. inches)
• 2nd highest in Dressing Percentage (61.2%)
• 3rd highest in Retail Product Pounds (426 lbs.)

Galloway cattle come in three primary colors--black, red and dun--and in three color patterns--solid, white park and belted. 

Their distinctive, woolly haircoat makes them warm, energy efficient foragers--that's a big plus when the northers blow in. 

Researchers at Montana State University estimate that beef cows with hair coats just one inch thicker consume 20% to 25% less feed in order to maintain body weight when the weather is cold. 

The Galloway's thick winter hair coat enables their calves to endure variations in temperature, strong wind and driving rain--conditions that put calves of other breeds in the sick pen.  Their hair coat also provides insect resistance, and many contend it enables the breed to maintain low levels of backfat. In warm weather, Galloways shed their winter coats easily and their hair becomes slick and shiny.