As I infer, it's a variety of cattle (8)
I believe the answer is:
friesian
'cattle' is the definition.
(I know that Friesian is a dairy cattle)
'as i infer it's a variety' is the wordplay.
'it's a variety' indicates an anagram.
'as'+'i'+'infer'='asiinfer'
'asiinfer' anagrammed gives 'FRIESIAN'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for friesian that I've seen before include "source of milk" , "Source of beef" , "Black and white cattle breed" , "from Holland" , "Black and white dairy cattle" .)