The Murray Grey breed was developed over 100 years ago in the Murray River Valley of Australia. Legend has it that a roan Shorthorn cow, bred to various Angus bulls, produced 12 polled grey calves that became the foundation of the breed.

Those crossbred cattle were bred to Angus for about 40 years, so genetically they are similar to Angus but vary in coat color from silver through all shades of grey to black.

In Australia Murray Grey became the leading export of grass-finished cattle to Pacific Rim countries and dominated Australia’s carcass competitions. Murray Grey are easy-care cattle that combine calving ease with growth, carcass, and gentle disposition. They finish equally well on grass or in feedlots.

The first Murray Grey semen was brought to the U.S. in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s but the breed didn’t gain much traction in this country until recently. There is more interest today in cattle that do well on grass.

California’s Eagles Run

Kris and Diana Anderson raised purebred Murray Greys on their 500-acre Eagles Run Ranch near Livermore, Calif., for many years. For a while their operation was the largest representation of Murray Gray in western states, producing seedstock to fit the needs of commercial cattlemen. 

“Many people realize their cows have gotten too big,” Diana Anderson says. “They buy a beautiful young bull with leg and length and are happy with the calves. But when they keep females, they grow too big, are costly to maintain and sometimes a challenge to get bred early.”   

Related:Breaking point: Suicides rise as farm income drops

The Andersons made a large investment in imported semen and embryos from Australia.  “Australia has hundreds of thousands of Murray Grey cattle,” says Diana.

Her cows were easy-fleshing and feed-efficient.  “We recorded weights, and our average cow was about 1290 to 1500 pounds, but frame score was between 4.5 and 5.5,” she said. Frame scores (determined by hip height) range from 1 to 10, and many beef cattle today are frame score 6 to 8.

“If you compare a Murray Grey that weighs 1400 pounds with a 1400-pound Angus the typical Angus has more leg (and usually a larger frame) but the Murray Gray has more body,” Anderson says. “A mature Murray Grey looks like a refrigerator on its side. All the important meat producing parts are in the rectangular body; the legs are never long.” 

Not all cattlemen want the same type of animal, so we need genetic diversity in seedstock and a variety of breeds and types.  No one type fits every operation or environment.  “The cattle industry should not go the route of turkeys—where the end product is total uniformity,” Anderson says.

Related:Horses in the heat: How to protect them

Most people who bought their cattle were seeking to improve carcass quality and create better females. A good Murray Grey puts a lot of meat on a smaller frame, and finishes quickly and efficiently on grass. For many years she and Kris sold steers to FFA kids. 

“Those steers always placed at the top in carcass competitions, but the kids told us they could only feed 1/3 of the recommended grain supplementation because these steers could not handle much grain,” Anderson says. “They were more cost-effective to raise, yet marbled well enough to place in carcass competitions.  Murray Greys are one of the few breeds that are high in marbling and still retain ability to flesh easily and efficiently.”

She feels there are five reasons Murray Greys are well-suited to produce grass-fed beef:

Some cattle marketed as grass-fed are tough and stringy and consumers think grass-fed beef isn’t very good.  Not all cattle have the genetics for finishing on grass, and don’t do well in terms of quality in a grass-finish market.  Selecting the right genetics for grass-fed operations is critical for success. 

Related:Unique grass-fed beef operation using rangeland

Nevada’s 7 Lazy 11 Ranch

Mike Lowry grew up on a ranch near Jordan Valley, Ore. then worked on cattle ranches in Nevada and California.  His first exposure to Murray Greys was in the mid 1990’s after his parents began to use Murray Grey bulls on first-calf heifers to alleviate calving problems. 

“What sold me on them was calving ease and how well those calves performed,” Lowry says. “My parents turned cattle on summer range allotments, and in the past their first-calf heifers came back in the fall with runty calves. Crossbred calves on those heifers were better. Then when they hit the feedlot, those calves took off and grew.”

In 2003, he and his wife Gaylene started their 7 Lazy 11 Murray Grey herd in Fernley, Nev. With additional leased ground, the herd expanded and the Lowrys developed markets in grass-finished and organic grass-finished beef business for clients using their genetics.

“A fifth-generation rancher near Susanville, Calif., called about 8 years ago wanting Murray Grey bulls,” Lowry says. “He started Panorama Meats (organic grass-fed beef from cattle born and raised in the U.S. by family ranchers) in 2001, to produce grass-finished beef for the Whole Foods market. He told me they had a Murray Grey producer in this co-op of ranchers and every time they harvested animals, that set of cattle had the best data on carcass quality and yield.”

Backbone Ranch in Texas

Located northwest of Dallas, the Backbone Ranch has been in the Lindsley family for 50 years and 3 generations. Veterinarian Hays Boyd and his mother run it now.

“We started with Murray Grey cattle in 2011,” says Boyd. “My mother, also a veterinarian, was taking over ownership and management of the ranch from my grandmother and wanted cattle that are heat tolerant, perform well on grass and produce a quality product. For decades our family had a conventional cow-calf operation, with Herefords, Santa Gertrudis, and Brangus.

“I researched beef breeds, evaluating fertility, temperament, calving ease, birth weights, mothering ability, daily gain to weaning and finishing, ability to finish well on grass, carcass yield and quality, tenderness and marbling and decided Murray Grey cattle filled these criteria,” he says.

In 2011 he and his mother invested in a small purebred Murray Grey herd, intending to sell local, naturally raised beef direct to consumers. 

“Our steers consistently grade Choice on grass alone,” says Boyd. Genetic testing can be utilized to determine which individuals have higher prevalence of tenderness and marbling genes.

There’s growing interest in this breed, with increased popularity of grass-fed and grass-finished beef (healthier meat than grain-finished beef) and small farmers who want a few cattle that can efficiently use a small acreage and be easy and safe to handle.

Though they are genetically similar to Angus, they tolerate heat better, especially the ones that are silver-grey. 

“Here in Texas, cattle are subjected to summer days that often hit 110 degrees,” Boyd says. “When neighboring herds are standing in ponds trying to cool off, Murray Greys are still out grazing, converting grass into beef. Dark pigmentation on udder and muzzle reduces incidence of sunburned teats and udders, and pinkeye.”

British-based genetics (Angus and Shorthorn) have some advantages over zebu (Brahman type) cattle. 

“Around here Brangus are still popular, but Murray Grey color is beneficial in the heat—maybe not as good as Brahman, but they more than make up for it in meat quality and disposition,” he says. “In recent years, we’ve sent semen to producers in Costa Rica and Mexico who want heat tolerant cattle with better carcass attributes than the Bos Indicus breeds (like Brahman and Brahman crosses) of their regions.”

Calving ease is another benefit. “We use the same bulls on heifers as on our mature cows.”  This is handy for a small herd; you don’t need two bulls.

Cows are known for mothering ability and longevity, usually producing quality calves into their teens. “The oldest cow in our herd is 15 and we have several 14-year-olds that raise our top calves,” Boyd says. You don’t have to keep as many heifers if cows stay in production longer.

The bulls cover many cows in a season.

“Using a single sire for forty cows, we’ve had 90% of his calves born in the first 21 days of calving season,” he says Calves born close together are more uniform at weaning.

“One producer we sold yearling bulls to in 2012 turned out 4 of them with 100 heifers, and that was the first year he didn’t have to pull a calf.  He runs 700 mama cows and has been utilizing more Murray Greys.  He partners with a gentleman who owns a butcher shop and several restaurants, and they advertise Murray Grey beef,” Boyd says.