Marwood Hallett, 73, says the docile personality of Murray grey cattle is a perfect fit for him as he gets older. He and his wife, Cindy, have a small herd of Murray grey cows on their Locust Grove Ranch near Tenmile, Ore.

TENMILE, Ore. — Several years ago, when Cindy Hallett was visiting a Christmas nativity scene with her grandchildren, she noticed the cow was quiet and docile. It was a Murray grey.

After doing their own research on that breed, Cindy and her husband, Marwood Hallett, made the decision 10 years ago to start their own small herd of registered purebred Murray grey cows.

“The older you get, the more important the behavior of the animals you have,” said Marwood Hallett, 73. “Murray grey are definitely docile. They have a laid-back personality.”

The couple added the cattle to their small breeding program of straight Egyptian Arabian horses on their Locust Grove Ranch in the small Tenmile community west of Winston, Ore.

In addition to working with the cows and horses, Marwood is a 10-year member of the Douglas County Livestock Association and became the organization’s president last year.

The Halletts grew their Murray grey herd to 80 mother cows. They’ve put bulls in the field with the cows, but have also used artificial insemination after obtaining semen from Australia, the birthplace of the breed.

The Murray grey breed was established in the early 1900s when an Angus bull was crossed with a roan shorthorn cow. By the early 1960s, several Australian ranchers had established successful commercial Murray grey breeding operations, leading to the formation of the Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society.

The breed was imported to the U.S. in the early 1970s. Over the next 20 years, Murray grey breeders gradually began producing animals of a sufficient frame size to be commercially acceptable for the beef market.

Marwood Hallett said genetic testing has shown that his herd’s bull has tested 10 on a scale to 10 for tenderness and several of the cows have tested that high or close to it.

Over the past 10 years, the Halletts have sold the calves to 4-H and FFA members for their livestock projects and to other ranchers who wanted to start a Murray grey herd. They’ve also sold semen from their bulls.

“I’ve seen quite a bit of Murray grey influence at the fair,” Hallett said of more youths raising the docile breed for their livestock projects.

Earlier this year, after deciding to downsize their herd a bit, the Halletts sold 20 cows and seven calves to a Wisconsin rancher who was transitioning out of the dairy business and into the beef industry.

In addition to working with his cattle and the Arabian horses, Hallett has been a board member for the Douglas County Livestock Association. For the past five years, he has organized and scheduled guest speakers from the agriculture industry for a monthly morning meeting for the association.

“I enjoy learning things and helping others to learn,” he said of the breakfast meetings. “My approach is the adult education model, what do you want to learn, then where can we find the best person to help us understand the situation better.”

In 2021, Hallett accepted the president’s position for the organization. He’s organized four regional meetings, trying to make it easier for the livestock producers who are spread out in Douglas County to attend a meeting and learn about the association. Those meetings produced 20 new members.

Hallett was born on a ranch in Oklahoma, and he said livestock “has always been in my blood.”

“The ranch life keeps us healthy,” he said. “It’s been very rewarding and satisfying.”