Pineywoods
(most common name)
(transboundary/brand name)

(local/other name):
• Piney Woods Cattle
• Southern Woods
• Southern Woods Cattle
• Woods

The Pineywoods started with Criollo cattle in Florida (same history as the Florida Cracker) and then was further developed in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi as a triple-purpose animal on farms. The Pineywoods gets its name from its habitat origins in the longleaf pine forests of the Gulf Coastal Plain.

By 1970, there were only a few herds of purebred Pineywoods. These family herds represent unique strains which have been isolated for several decades. Selection focused on purpose of production and also for color and spotting patterns. While most tend towards the dairy type, strains used for working oxen display heavy muscling in the front.

Pineywoods strains include:
• the Holt line (Georgia; black colorsided)
• the Poppel line (red or brindle, rare)
• the Barnes line (established 1910 on the border of Alabama and the panhandle of Florida; polled sires used; beefy; colorsided)
• the Conway line (influenced by 1/4 Devon bull; totally closed herd since 1938; used extensively for the production of oxen for southern logging industry; mostly red and white, often with speckling)
• the Griffin line (traced to French cattle introduced around 1850; small and rounded; large horns; yellow color)
• the Tornill line (white with red points; believed to be of English origin)
• the Robinson line (Mississippi; various shades of red, some are white spotted)
• the Carter line (Mississippi; at least 100+ years old; influenced by Angus; all kinds of colors and patterns)
• the Bayliss line (Mississippi)

The Pineywoods has a close relationship to the Florida Cracker as confirmed by microsatellite studies.

A dwarf variety of the Florida Cracker and the Pineywoods is known as the Guinea.

This page was last updated on: 2023-05-19

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