Randall Cattle
Hildene is helping with the conservation of this rare, triple purpose breed used for dairy, meat, and as oxen. A heritage breed for Vermont, these beautiful, speckled cattle originated on a nearby Sunderland farm and are considered critically endangered.
Efforts to protect and preserve Randall Cattle are well underway and making progress. Kim Pinsonneault, Hildene Farm's livestock manager and educator, maintains The Randall Cattle Registry. Pinsonneault grew up on the Randall farm where the breed originated and her family lives there today with a small herd of Randalls.
Preservation: Randall Cattle
by Kim Pinsonneault, Hildene Farm, Livestock Manager & Educator
Growing up on a farm in Sunderland, Vermont, meant days of collecting eggs from the chicken coop, tending to the garden, playing in the stream, and putting up hay for our herd of cows. It is not that much different from my life today. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized how special the cows we had on our farm were.
I grew up with my mom in what we called the “little house” on our farm. My grandmother, Ann Montgomery, and her partner, Everett Randall, lived in the main farmhouse. It was a life of long, hard days. My grandmother worked nights at a local factory and would then come home and farm with Everett during the day. I spent much of my time with them, as my mother worked away from the farm.
For over 80 years, Everett and his father, Samuel Randall, kept a closed herd of Randall Cattle. There are still mysteries about how the cattle first came to the farm in Sunderland. One thing is for certain: They are prized as a triple-purpose breed, as well as for their beauty and intelligence. Some farms raise them for milking and making cheese, some for beef, and still others as ox pairs working the land.
In 1985, Everett passed away, leaving my grandmother with a large farm and a herd of cows. She eventually decided to find good homes for some of this rare breed that was in danger of extinction. An amazing woman, Cynthia Creech, stepped up to help save those in the remaining herd. Another couple, Phil and Dianne Lang, also stepped in a few years later to purchase the few remaining Randalls in the Northeast and started their conservation effort. They are all responsible for The Randall Cattle Registry. Thanks to them, we have reliable records linking us to the past.
Many years later, as an adult with a family of my own, I knew I wanted to get cows back on the farm. I finally did it in 2007 with the purchase of a heifer calf and a young steer from Phil and Dianne Lang. It was an amazing day! I knew I was going to have to purchase a bull to start a breeding program, and I finally made that happen a couple of years later. Since then, many, many calves have been born. Some stay, and some move on to new homes to help add more of these amazing animals back into the world.
When I came to Hildene, I knew it would be a great place to continue my conservation of the Randall cattle breed. I currently still reside on the original family farm in Sunderland, just a few miles down the road. With fewer than 1,000 Randall cattle in existence, it is important to have good breeding programs and to educate people about the importance of these rare animals. To put this in perspective, there are some large dairy farms today that alone milk 1000 cows a day.
We hope you come and visit us at Hildene to see our Randalls in person.
