The Hereford breed was established near Hereford, county of Herefordshire, England, nearly 300 years ago as a product of necessity. Thrifty, enterprising British farmers were seeing the need to produce beef for the expanding food market created by Britain's industrial revolution.

To successfully meet this growing demand, these early-day cattlemen needed cattle which could efficiently convert native grasses to beef, and do it at a profit. No breed at that time could fill that need, so the farmers of Herefordshire developed and founded the breed that logically became known as Herefords.

Benjamin Tomkins is credited with being a primary founder of the Hereford breed. He began in 1742 with a bull calf from the cow Silver and two cows, Pidgeon and Mottle, inherited from his father's estate. This was 18 years before Robert Bakewell began developing his theories of animal breeding. Tomkins' goals were economy in feeding, natural ability to grow and gain on grass and grain, rustling ability, hardiness, early maturity and high rates of reproduction, traits that are still of primary importance today.

Other pioneering breeders followed Tomkins' lead and established the world-wide reputation for these Herefordshire cattle, thus causing their exportation from England to wherever grass grows and beef production is possible.

Herefords in the 1700s and early 1800s in England were much larger than today's. Many mature Herefords of those days weighed 3,000 pounds or more when displayed in 1839.
Gradually, the type and conformation changed to less extreme size and weight in order to get more quality and efficiency.
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