Dear Sir,

I have been fascinated with the claims ("Buffalo Breeders Bellowing At Talk Of Genetic Impurity," Livestock Weekly, Sept. 3) that there were four and only four of the 32 buffalo taken from the JA Ranch that had a cattle gene in them. For 100 years, the herd ran wild on the JA, always numbering over 50 head. It is impossible for me to believe that four of these are the result of ancestors that had cattle blood in them and these buffalo with cattle blood bred only with other ancestors that had cattle blood, leaving the balance of the herd genetically pure. None of the buffalo appear to be beefalo, so, this is not a recent contamination of the bloodlines. If four of the JA buffalo had cattle genes, all of the JA buffalo had cattle genes, because they have bred together throughout the years. This suggests to me that James Derr's test is flawed.

Jay O'Brien
Managing Partner
JA Cattle Company
(Via E-mail)