The first pure poll Devon bull recorded was calved in America in 1915, named Missouri 9097 he was a sport (a mutant) born to horned parents.

This initial animal lacked desired size and beef conformation. However, thirty years later the best descendants were acquired by Mr W E Gird, a breeder based in California who imported several high quality Devons from England to mate over the poll cows.

A breeder called Leo M. Parker, in Mississippi, subsequently purchased some of the best Gird stock and continued improvement of the poll Devons.

Forty years after the birth of that first Poll Devon bull, two of his descendants, Caesar of Devonshire and Boaz of Devonshire, were purchased from Leo Parker by Australian breeder, Ted Cunningham of Strathmore at Collinsville, in north Queensland, and arrived in Australia in May 1955.

Progeny by these bulls from Devoncourt-bred and Newstead-bred cows calved in 1956-7 and were the first poll Devon  cattle recorded in Australia. Strathmore was an expansive holding, running as many as 50,000 cattle, so in breeding, with the bulls required to cover such numbers, Poll Shorthorn/Devon-cross were also used.

Interest in developing poll Devons in the UK gathered pace in 1954 and likewise Australia. Poll registers were established within the Devon Herd Books that included provision for grading up from infusions of outside poll breeds to purebred status.

Within five years, eight poll sport Devons (progeny of two horned parents) were entered in the Poll Register from  the Ravenswoood herd of D.M. Hamilton at Rylstone, The Hill herd of A.A. Laidlaw at Ararat, Vic, Mount Lookout herd of D.B.Hudson and Newstead herd at Elsmore, NSW.

Numerous breeders established grading-up programs using Red Angus, Poll Shorthorn and Red Poll and entered progeny in the four generation Fixation Cross Poll Register. Others, who had introduced outside poll breeds into their commercial Devons for some time, brought forward stock for inspection and entry into the Herd Books under the Generation A purebred commercial Devon rules.

Pioneering poll herds that quickly rose to prominence were Kilmorey South of Ian and Janet Officer, Warrnambool, Victoria; Janet Officer subsequently formed Lister stud and moved to Miles in Queensland. The Kilmorey South herd initially infused imported Red Angus genetics, and both herds used poll sport animals bred by Janet’s parents in their Ravenswood herd.

Lister stock from a son of Boaz of Devonshire and Newstead sport lines were sold to herds in all states.

Prominent herds that also infused Red Angus to grade up to Generation A entry status were Whisloca and East Whisloca run by Roy and Henry Trethewie in Tasmania and the noted Havilah herd bred by Dennis White at Mudgee, NSW.

At the same time, Mr A.R. Gee used Red Poll bulls over his Royslea Devons in Tasmania. Poll Devon herds increased rapidly in all states, some sourcing stock from established herds, others beginning their own outside infusion projects.

In Western Australia, D. Spark (Eungella) recorded another Poll sport, while Joe Garmony built his Naul Park herd on Lister foundation stock.

The Devonbrook herd of S.A. Frederick, near West Wagin, WA, was based on Lister and Royslea stock.

According to members of Rory Trethewie’s family, poll breeding in the Trethewie’s Whisloca herd was first tried using Red Poll in the late 1920s and early 1930s, however, it is understood this was abandoned and in the early 1950s Red Angus was then tried. This was considered a success and descendents of this poll infusion then became the basis for the Trethewie poll program thereafter.

In the late 1960s, Rory’s son Max took on a significant proportion of the horned and polled Trethewie herds, in 1969 transporting six (single deck) semi-trailer loads to West Wagin, WA. The polled cattle struggled at first, not being as robust as the horned cattle of the day, but by the 1980s, following ongoing selection and after the importation of a poll sire, Minety Broads Cherryripe 4th, by Max Trethewie, the polled cattle were eventually considered to have matched the horned lines.

Minety Broads Cherryripe 4th was selected as a 10-month-old from the dispersal of E.F. Croker’s Minety herd, Wiltshire, UK in 1979.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dickensons in Victoria infused Poll Shorthorns with Devons at Woodilee, and Leo and Roger Dickenson continued the family’s work at Rangeview Park in SA.

Barry Connard and James Russell developed the Candlewood and Carngham herds in Victoria using a combination of Lister, Strathmore and Woodilee lines, while in Queensland Bud Ford (Aldersyde) and Bill Hay (Bedourie) used Strathmore lines.

In NSW, Peter Knight at Coonabarabran, built up the Belar herd from a Lister female base and a sport bull, Devonbrook Sport, and other lines from various herds to develop the largest Breedplan performance recorded herd of poll Devons.

The Glen william herd developed in the 1980s by Keith Lober MBE used Naul Park and Darling Hill bulls from WA over Havilah lines, while Margie Mullins’ Bongalabi herd at Lake Bathurst, NSW, also used WA-bred stock from Naul Park, Dingle and Westcourt, blended with NSW lines.

Semen from English poll sire, Dingle Objective 4th, was used by several herds in the 1980s; and Dr Barry Connard used Bourton Marquis (imp UK) semen in his Candlewood herd in the 1990s.

New Zealand breeders imported 10 poll Devons from  Woodilee in the 1960s; later the bulls Seaton Park 55 and Candlewood Marquis 3rd were exported to NZ by A.M. Dickenson and Dr Barry Connard.

Unfortunately the large Strathmore herd was destroyed during the eradication of cattle tuberculosis from Queensland. Numerous other poll herds dropped stud registrations after the Devon Society introduced annual cow inventory payments in 1990s.

Since 2000, the enquiry for poll animals, especially from commercial cattle breeders has significantly grown, so with sixty years of developing poll Devon stock, the majority of registered Devons in Australia had become hornless.

Four larger, current poll studs, all based in NSW are Gundooee, Gowan Ross, Mount Lookout and Vix.

Gowan Ross and Vix herds of Alison Heap and Vic Edwards at Coonabarabran and Mullaley were developed from Palinga horned stock, as well as Glen William and Havilah poll lines and imported semen from Isca Mustang, Tapuwae 635, Te Maewa Oban (NZ) and Lakota King Henry (USA).

The poll section of the large Mount Lookout herd of Bob and Jo Crawford at Moulamein was based on Bongalabi, Elverton and Belar poll lines.

Gundooee Poll Devons, run by Dennis and Tania Hall at Binnaway and Coolabah, was established in June 1934 by Dennis’ father Arthur Hall on Havilah stock.

In 1956 a polled heifer calf (a sport) was born to a purebred Devon cow joined to a horned Havilah bull. This poll heifer in turn produced a poll heifer calf, and from this second heifer a poll bull calf. In August 1978 and June 1979, 22 Gundooee poll females and one poll bull were registered in the herd book. The Gundooee stud has further developed by infusing genetics from other herds and imported semen.

Several Poll Devons studs used semen from Stonegrove High ‘N’ Mighty, Tilbrook Sunset, Tilbrook Prince and Tillbrook Elite, imported from Britain during the first two decades of the 2000s.

Over the same period, Margie Mullins exported Bongalabi Atlas and Bongalabi Bertie semen to Great Britain, Brazil and NZ, Alison Heap exported Gowan Ross Gentleman G82 and Gowan Ross Johann J73 semen to NZ and North America.

Vix Jurasic J76 and Vix Jatz J60 semen was also exported around the same time to the same destinations by Vic Edwards.

Leo Parker promoted his cattle as “Gentle, docile, tractable regardless of the term this bred-in trait is one of the important advantages of Poll Devon cattle, together with the five other essentials, fertility, weight gain, conformation, hardiness and milk production”