GA HB493

Designates pineywoods cattle as the official Georgia heritage cattle breed by adding new Code section 50-3-94

Pineywoods cattle have been present in Georgia since the 1500s and were raised by both European settlers and Native American tribes including Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw

The breed is currently listed as threatened by The Livestock Conservancy, with fewer than 1,000 annual registrations in the United States

Georgia-specific strains of the breed include Holt, Purvis, Albany, and Popple, maintained by only a few families

The breed developed heat tolerance, disease resistance, and parasite resistance adapted to the Southeast, and is now used in holistic grazing initiatives to recover native species