Black Hereford History & J&N Ranch, LLC.
Lineage of Black Hereford cattle breed traced to J&N Ranch
- In 1994, Hereford breeders Frank Felton and John Gage began the process of creating a Black Hereford using the method other red-hided breeds had already used to turn their hair color black. Breeding registered Hereford and Angus cattle together to produce an F1, then breeding those F1 females back to a registered Hereford bull and selecting for black hair color. Those 3/4 Hereford bulls would then be used on a different set of F1s to produce a 5/8 blood with black on both sides of the pedigree. Black Herefords must be 5/8 Hereford blood or higher.
- In 1997, the first two 3/4 bloods were born on the Blue Jacket Farm owned by attorney and Hereford breeder, John Gage, who had incorporated the ABHA back in 1994.
- In 1999, Joe Hoagland purchased the one female and the one bull produced so far and all the F1s used to start Black Herefords. He also purchased the two Hereford Bulls Frank Felton had selected to use on the F1s as well as the corporation that had been set up for the new breed. At that point, he started the Black Hereford Registry at the barn office of J&N Ranch in Leavenworth, Kansas and recorded the first two Black Herefords. The first bull was named "BJH Balder 7504." BJH for Blue Jacket Herefords and "Balder" for the bloodline of J&N Black Hereford breeding
- In 2000, the pedigree and performance records which were previously all hand-written were computerized by Norma Hoagland.
- In 2003, after several attempts, Black Herefords received the international breed designation of "HB" as a separate breed of cattle and for labeling semen worldwide. That same year the Hoaglands sold their first registered Black Herefords and opened the American Black Hereford Association to other breeders by selling memberships.
- In 2005, the American Black Hereford Association published their first EPDs on four basic performance traits.
- In 2011, the Hoaglands moved the American Black Hereford Association headquarters from their ranch in Leavenworth, Kansas to a new independent location in Kansas City, Missouri. The ABHA now has its national headquarters in Boiling Green, Kentucky.
- In 2012, the Hoaglands published the first Black Hereford magazine known as the Black Hereford Journal and hosted the first National Black Hereford Sale.
- In 2015, after years of data collection on their cattle, the Hoaglands expanded the J&N Ranch EPDs to include over 15 genetic traits to measure the performance, maternal, and carcass merit of their Black Hereford cattle.
- Today, there are over 500 breeders located throughout the United States, Canada, England, Belgium, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. All of them trace their origins back to J&N Ranch.