Jack Holden's grandfather, Les, purchased his first Line One bull for the ranch in 1947. Since then the cattle have been line bred and developed with emphasis on maintaining moderate birth weights while adding performance, milk, and predictability. Other considerations include phenotype, EPD's, pigment, soundness, and fertility. The Holden herd has been estimated to have an average inbreeding co-efficient of about 15%. The benefits of this are the uniformity and predictability that these cattle will breed, and also the fact that heterosis from crossing a line bred Holden bull on an unrelated Hereford cow has been estimated to be equal to that of a cross between breeds(10-15%). When you use a Holden bred animal, you take advantage of generation upon generation of top quality genetics.