Jeremy Engh, the President of the American Devon Cattle Association, gave this speech at the World Devon Congress in 2004. It appeared as an article in the periodical BullDust, No. 60, 2004, 2nd issue. We excerpt the material describing the history of the breed in the 1900s in America:
In the history of most breeds, herd books to record the breed's lineage were generally established after a more desirable kind of animal had been produced and the breed was increasing in popularity with more and more herds being established. The herd books were established to protect the purity of the established strains. Generally, a breed society was formed later to serve as a guardian for the genetic integrity of the breed and to promote the general interests of the breed and its breeders. The establishment of herd books and organizations to protect and promote Devon interests in America followed this sequence.
An American Devon Herd Book was begun in 1855 by Horace M. Sessions of Massachusetts. His first volume included a reprint of Volume 1 and 2 of the English herd book. Sessions published five volumes with the last appearing in 1879.
James Buckingham, a Devon breeder from Zanesville, Ohio, began publication of the American Devon Record in 1881. The first four volumes were published under his direction, bringing Devon registry records up to May 1,1887.
Mr. Buckingham, with the aid of several other prominent Devon breeders, was instrumental in organizing the American Devon Cattle Club on March 26, 1884, at a meeting in Pittsburgh's East End Hotel. The American Devon Record became the official herd book of the Club, which published six volumes under its watch. Like most other livestock registry associations in the United States, the American Devon Cattle Club found the cost prohibitive to produce a limited edition herd book. Volume 10, the final volume of the American Devon Record, was published in 1947. Duplicate registration certificates were maintained in the breed's registry office for verifying the ancestry of registered animals and to protect the genetic integrity of the Devon breed in the United States.
After the death of L.P.Sessions, Secretary of the American Devon Cattle Club, in 1916, the Club was reorganized and incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the American Devon Cattle Club, Inc. The corporation operated under that name for 53 years until it was changed to its present name, Devon Cattle Association, Inc., at an annual meeting of the membership in Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 22, 1971.
On October 11th, 1978, a Devon Cattle Association, Inc. was formed as a Missouri nonprofit corporation. A merger of the old Massachusetts corporation into the new Missouri corporation was approved by the respective members on November 19th, 1978. The merger became effective January 1st, 1979.
The registration, promotion, and improvement of Devon cattle in the United States are now the primary functions of the Devon Cattle Association, Inc….
In Types and Breeds of Farm Animals published in 1920, Professor Charles S. Plumb, commenting on the status of the Devon in America, said "For a breed with such an old and creditable history it is a remarkable thing that it should have come to such a subordinate place among well-known breeds in America." In the early 1970's, a question still asked frequently was why a breed with "so much in its favour" was not better known and playing more of a major role in America's beef industry.
The late Ben K. Greenhorseman, veterinarian, and Devon breeder from Texas -- perhaps shed the most light on the question when he commented in the fall of 1973: "The Devon is the best kept secret in America and the breeders made it that way!" The breed received little promotion and remained largely in the hands of small breeders and farmers. They were successful in "making the best better." However, they had a ready market for whatever surplus stock they had available for sale and, thereby, devoted little time and few dollars to promoting their breed and telling "the Devon story" to American cattlemen. Also, the American Devon Cattle Club was small with only limited funds to devote to an aggressive promotion program. It appears that without so many strong traits in its favor, the Devon breed would have disappeared from the American agricultural scene forever.
All of that changed in the late 1970s. The registry was reorganized and the board of directors expanded. The breed was placed in the public eye and the response was wonderful. Dr. Stewart Fowler's (the newly appointed executive director) value to the breed and industry was immeasurable. Few people realize that the DCA was the first US cattle association to implement performance data recording with the 205 day weight for weaning and the age of dam adjustment. Soon other breed associations realized the importance of performance data and followed suit. But then disaster struck. Several major breeders in the United States disassembled their herds for various personal reasons and the association became stagnant.
The DCA lost its sense of direction and stopped progress. Why? I cannot say. But for several years the only Devon activity in this country was from the hobbyist and Devon Lover. Other breeds however continued the course and continued to move forward with the development of tools such as EPDs and carcass data recording to name a few. Several years passed with the requests for information dropping from the thousands in the late 1970s and early 1980s to less than 200 in 1985, less than 100 in 1986, and less than 50 in the years between 1987 and 1992. In 1994, the Association received seven requests for information. Membership also fell between 1985 and 1995, 19 new members were entered into the association records during that time. The numbers of registrations and transfers were equally dismal. Point being that once again if not for the fortitude of both Devon cattle and Devon breeder, the breed and the history accompanying it would have been lost from this country's agricultural scene.
On September 9, 1998, in a living room in West Virginia there was an annual meeting of the Devon Cattle Association. At this meeting were 11 people and after formalities and the review of a seemingly hopeless endeavor, Richard Evans was named president. In the months to follow I Jeremy Engh) worked closely with Mr. Evans and again we did a much needed reorganization of records. Everything was put on a computer and again progress was initiated.
No disrespect is intended toward Mr. Bernard Mayeux who kept a sinking ship afloat and ran the association during this dismal period. Instead I (Jeremy Engh) thank this man for his work when others did nothing to help because having also worked in this Association without support I can attest to the heartache that accompanies that task. (It should be noted here that in 1998, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy had listed the Devon in their critical category. This category is of the highest concern and indicates a breed with "fewer than 200 annual North American registrations…")
In 1998, the Association saw real progress with the first newsletter in five years. New membership, information requests, registration, and transfers all increased. In 2000, the new association joined Breedplan and moved the registry to Australia, information requests tripled. Ten new members joined the organization and things really started to look up. A surge of attention began pouring in from people wanting to Grass-farm. In 2002, everything continued to look good for the Association and later that year, when Gearld Fry and Ridge Shinn (of the Bakewell Reproductive Center) discovered the Devon, interest was again kicked into high gear…."
