Extension & Outreach

Ranchers in the arid Southwest face new challenges as fuel costs increase and the environment changes. In a search for solutions that might help the ranchers stay in business, researchers at the Jornada Experimental Range are studying Criollo cattle.

The Criollo is an ancient, rugged breed that thrives in conditions other breeds of cattle could not tolerate. That's not surprising, since they've been in New Mexico more than 400 years and in the New World even longer. Their descendants came across the Atlantic on Christopher Columbus' second voyage (1493-1496) to the island of Hispaniola, and in 1598 Criollo cattle came to what is now New Mexico.

Despite their long tenure, Criollo began to fall out of favor in the late 1800s with the introduction of larger, British cattle such as Angus and Hereford. Ranching with these breeds worked well until the fuel to move them to markets became expensive and the demand for supplemental feed intensified. Adding to the problem has been the century-long process of desertification, wherein beneficial grassland has been replaced by unusable scrubland.

These factors led Animal and Range Science Professor Dean Hawkins, of NMSU's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, and fellow faculty member Ed Fredrickson, a research rangeland management specialist, to search for a desert-adapted cattle breed that might be a better match for the changing economic and geographic conditions. They found a promising prospect in the Copper Canyon region of Chihuahua, Mexico, where Tarahumara Indians still raise Criollo cattle, a breed that has nearly disappeared from New Mexico.

Initial studies by the pair have shown that Criollo bring several beneficial characteristics to the table: They tend to use larger areas and more diverse habitats when they graze, rather than concentrating on one area as a British cow does; they graze fewer hours per day; their diets are more varied; they are smaller, averaging 730 pounds, rather than 1,200-1,300 pounds; and they seem to be able to remain active in hotter temperatures.

Research will focus initially on the physiology of the Criollo cattle, then move to economic implications, whether local or industry-wide.