Breeding & Development
Breeding & Development
We select, cross, propagate and evaluate animals and plants to develop breeding lines and varieties with specific characteristics. This is on-ranch breeding work, recorded as we go. Lines and selections described here are not registered or independently validated breeds or varieties.
Methods
- Selective breeding
- Choosing breeding animals and parent plants based on the traits we want to carry forward.
- Open pollination
- Letting plants cross naturally, then saving seed from the plants that perform best here.
- Controlled hybridization
- Making deliberate crosses between chosen parent plants and recording the offspring.
- Seed saving and propagation
- Keeping seed from selected plants and growing it out in the greenhouse and garden.
- Selection across generations
- Repeating selection over several generations of animals or plants to develop a line.
- Evaluation of observable traits
- Recording what we see: growth, hardiness, form, temperament, production and how stock handles our conditions.
Animal Breeding
- Cattle. Our cattle programs are American Dual Purpose Zebu Cattle and Zebu Cattle.
- Goats. Our goat programs are Arizona Starfighter Goat, Arizona Dual Purpose Short Ear Goat, and Boer Goats.
- Sheep. Our sheep programs are Dorper and Longhorn Hair Sheep.
- Poultry. Our poultry work includes selected chicken breeds and breeding combinations for agricultural production.
Plant Hybridization
Vegetable selections, seed development, controlled plant crosses and growing trials. Seed from promising plants is kept, grown out again in the greenhouse and garden, and compared against the parent plants.
Working Dogs: ARDARDS Mastiff
The ARDARDS Mastiff program is a multigenerational working-dog breeding program with over 20 years of history. Dogs are bred for ranch and guardian work alongside livestock. Ask us about the program, upcoming availability and how placements are arranged.
The ARDARDS programDevelopment Records
Public summaries of individual projects: objective, methods, observations, status and next steps.