A Belted Galloway gazes toward the camera from this pasture off Bryant Drive in December 2024.
There are not many sights on Bryant Drive outside of Albany, but one of them you can look at from time to time is a herd of picturesque cattle.
I have seen these cattle in the same pasture over the years. With their black coat and white middle, they are quite distinctive.
After taking a couple of photos on a bike ride on Dec. 28, I finally took the time to look up what I had seen. I am no kind of expert on animal husbandry, but as usual, the Internet made it easy.
A Google search for “cattle with a white girdle” instantly came up with the “Belted Galloway, a traditional Scottish breed of beef cattle.”
There’s much more, of course, and I invite you to go online to learn more about this remarkable Scottish breed and its history. Because of where we live, one thing I read jumped out:
“The Belted Galloway’s heavy, double hair coat means that heat loss is reduced, winter feed costs are significantly less, and rain hardly penetrates in cold, wet weather. The Belted Galloway cow has about 4,000 hairs to the square inch making the coat resistant to severe cold.”
It wasn’t all that cold on the day last week when I looked at these animals. But it was good to learn that during Oregon winters, these Belted Galloways will be fine no matter how cold and wet it gets. (hh)
The pasture fence was the nearest thing to lean the bike against.
And here I was calling them Panda Cows all along (smh)!
Love this breed of cattle – very unique looking. First saw them in New Jersey and we referred to them as “Oreo Cows”. Thanks for providing some background on them Hasso!
Livestock production accounts for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide according to the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative, an international consortium of government and private agencies based in Rome.
Compare that to emissions from road vehicles: 12 percent of total global GHG emissions according to statista.com.
These cattle are cute, but they pollute more than cars.
The State of Oregon should ban these hairy beasts just like it is banning new gas powered road cars in 2035.
The collective benefit of all mankind must be served.
We could get rid of cars and ride cattle. The could be checked out like those BIRD scooters that failed. Who is going to toss a cow into the creek? Once they are no longer “serviceable”, eat em.
That “process” worked very well for Amundsen at the South Pole in 1911 when Scott’s motor-sleds failed in the cold…
Thanks for the great photo. Being a farmers kid I enjoy seeing these shots of inquisitive critters.
Did you know that there was another breed with the same marking that were dairy cattle? They were bred in the Germany/Netherlands region and imported to the US around 1835 but couldn’t compete with the Holstein in production. Their butterfat content in the milk was higher but milk quantity was lower.
It’s impossible, from the photo, to be sure which breed this might be. Maybe someone can identify the owner and learn for sure.
Love the interest on the Belties! The Dutch Belted dairy cow you are referring to are called Lakenvelders. Their coats are slicker than Belted Galloways and are smaller framed than traditional dairy cattle.
A street name for them is “Oreo cows”…
Cowabunga!