Beef Cattle Breeds
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| Breed | Location of Origin | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adaptaur | Australia | A tropically adapted Bos taurus breed, developed from crosses between Herefords and Shorthorns. |
| Afrikaner cattle | South Africa | Afrikaners are usually deep red with long spreading horns. They have the small cervico-thoracic hump typical of Sanga cattle. |
| Angus | Scotland | Pure black, sometimes with white at udder. Polled. |
| Australian Braford | Australia | Developed for resistance to ticks and for heat tolerance by crossing Brahmans and Herefords. |
| Australian Brangus | Australia | Polled breed developed by crossing Angus and Brahman |
| Australian Charbray | Australia | Developed by crossing Charolais and Brahman and selected for resistance to heat, humidity, parasites and diseases. |
| Beefmaster | Texas | Developed by breeding the Brahman, Shorthorn, and Hereford. |
| Belted Galloway | Scotland | Black with white band around middle, stocky, fairly long hair, polled. Very hardy and thrifty. |
| Belgian Blue | Belgium | Grey roan, or white with grey on head. Extremely muscular. Fast-growing if well-fed. |
| Belmont Red | Australia | A composite breed using Africander (African Sanga) and Hereford-Shorthorn |
| Black Hereford | Great Britain. | Black, white head. A hybrid produced by crossing a Hereford bull with Holstein or Friesian cows; used to obtain beef offspring from dairy cows. Not maintained as a separate breed, although females may be used for further breeding with other beef bulls. |
| Blonde d'Aquitaine | Aquitaine region of south-west France. | Pale brown, paler round eyes and nose. Muscular. Fast-growing if well-fed. |
| Bonsmara | South Africa | Developed from 5/8 Afrikaner, 3/16 Hereford and 3/16 Shorthorn animals. |
| Boran | Eastern Africa | Usually white, with the bulls being darker (sometimes almost black). |
| Brahman | India | Large, pendulous ears and dewlaps, hump over the shoulders |
| Brangus | United States | Developed by crossing Angus and Brahman |
| British White | Great Britain | White, with black (or sometimes red) ears, nose and feet; polled (hornless). Hardy and thrifty. |
| Caracu | Brazil | |
| Charolais | Charolais France | Wholly white or cream, lyre-shaped pale horns, or polled. Fast-growing if well-fed. |
| Chianina | Italy | Dual purpose, originally large draft breed, later selected for beef. |
| Corriente | Mexico | Hardy, small, athletic, criollo-type, descended from Iberian cattle. Used in rodeo sports, noted for lean meat. Short horns,various colors, often spotted. Also called Criollo or Chinampo |
| Crioulo Lageano | Iberian Peninsula | 400 years old longhorn breed with around 700 individuals that live close to the plateau of Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil. |
| Dexter | Southwest of Ireland | Very small, black or dun, dark horns. Sometimes has a dwarfing gene leading to very short legs. Hardy and thrifty. |
| Droughtmaster | Australia | Developed by crossing Brahman cattle with taurine breeds, especially Beef Shorthorn. Tolerant of heat and ticks. |
| English Longhorn | Midlands of England. | Red or brindle, with white back and belly. Very long cylindrical horns usually spreading sideways or downwards, often curving and even eventually making a circle. Medium size, hardy. |
| Florida Cracker | Florida, USA | Small, criollo-type descended from catttle brought to the Southern U.S. by the Spanish Conquistadors. Adapted to subtropical climate, parasite-resistant. Endangered breed |
| Galloway | Galloway region of Scotland | Black, stocky, fairly long hair, polled. Very hardy and thrifty. |
| Gascon cattle | French Pyrenees | Grey, hardy, maternal breed. Good growth and conformation of calves. Suitable for all farming systems, bred pure or crossed with a terminal sire |
| Gelbvieh | Germany | Red, strong skin pigmentation, polled. Superior fertility, calving ease, mothering ability, and growth rate of calves. |
| Han-u | Korea | |
| Hereford | Herefordshire, England | Red, white head, white finching on neck, and white switch. |
| Highland | Scotland. | Small, stocky; black, red, dun or white. Very long coat and very long pale horns, upswept in cows and steers. Very hardy and thrifty. |
| Hungarian Grey | Hungary. | Robust, easy-calving and long-lived. Horns long, curved and directed upward. Slender and tall. Well adapted to extensive pasture systems. |
| Irish Moiled | Northwest of Ireland. | Red with white back and belly, or white with red ears, nose and feet. Polled. Hardy and thrifty. |
| Limousin | Limousin and Marche regions of France. | Mid-brown, paler round eyes and nose. Fast-growing if well-fed. |
| Lowline | Australia | Developed by selectively breeding small Angus cattle. |
| Luing | The isle of Luing ( /ˈlɪŋ/) and surrounding islands in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. | Rough coat, red-brown, polled. Bred by crossing Beef Shorthorn with Highland. Very hardy and thrifty. |
| Maine-Anjou | Anjou region in West France. | Red-and-white pied. |
| Mocho Nacional | Brazil | Polled |
| Murray Grey | South Eastern Australia | Grey or silver polled cattle developed from a roan Shorthorn cow and an Angus bull. Easy-care versatile cattle that have been exported to many countries. |
| Nelore | India | Exported to Brazil, where it has become a dominant breed. |
| Nguni | South Africa | Extremely hardy breed developed by Nguni tribes for harsh African conditions. Originally derived from the African Sanga Cattle, although quite distinct. Three subgroups are recognised, Makhatini, Swazi and Pedi. |
| North Devon | Devon, Cornwall and Somerset: the West Country in the south-west of England. | Ruby-red, white tail switch, white horns. |
| Piedmontese | Piedmont | Bred both for beef and dairy production; double muscled. White colored and possessing myostatin genes. |
| Pineywoods | Gulf coast, USA | Landrace heritage endangered breed, lean, small, adapted to climate of the deep south, disease-resistant. Short horns, various colors, often spotted |
| Pinzgauer | Austria | A breed of cattle indigenous to the Pinz Valley, near Salzburg, Austria. Reared and used as dairy cattle in Europe although they are well adapted to drier landscapes of there USA, Australia and Southern Africa where they are kept for beef production or dual purposes. Solid red with very distinctive white blaze from wither, down to tail tip and underside. |
| Red Angus | Scotland | Colour variety of Angus: solid red. Polled. |
| Red Poll | East Anglia in England | Red with white switch, polled (hornless), dual purpose. |
| Romagnola | Italy | Bred primarily for beef production; often used as draught beasts in the past. White or grey with black pigmented skin and upward curving horns. |
| Romosinuano | Colombia | |
| Salers | France | Red. Hardy, easy calving. |
| Santa Gertrudis | Southern Texas | Developed by crossing red Shorthorn and Brahma |
| Simmental | Western Switzerland | Yellowish-brown, white head. Fast-growing if well-fed. Dual purpose (beef, dairy). |
| Shorthorn/Beef Shorthorn | Northern England | Red, red with white back and belly, or white. |
| Square Meater | New South Wales, Australia | Small, grey or silver, polled; similar to Murray Grey. |
| Sussex | South-east England | Rich chestnut red with white tail switch and white horns. Also used for draught until early 20th century. Hardy and thrifty. |
| Tabapuan | Brazil | |
| Tajima | Japan | Black Wagyu bred for internationally renown beefs such as Kobe and Matsuzaka. |
| Texas Longhorn | Texas | Various colours, with very long, tapering, upswept horns – extending as much as 80 inches (2.0 m) tip to tip. Very hardy in dry climates. Light muscled, so bulls often used for first-calf heifers. |
| Wagyū | Japan | Black, horned, and noted for heavy marbling (intramuscular fat deposition). |
| Welsh Black | Wales | Black, white upswept horns with black tips. Hardy. |
| White Park | Great Britain, Ireland. | White, with black (or sometimes red) ears, nose and feet; white horns with dark tips. Hardy and thrifty. |
Breeds known as dual purpose breeds are also used for beef production. These breeds have been selected for two purposes at once, such as for both beef and dairy production, or both beef and draught. Dual-purpose breeds include the Brown Swiss and many of the Zebu breeds of India such as Tharparkar and Ongole Cattle. The original Shorthorn was also a dual-purpose breed but diverged into two groups through selective breeding.
A steer that weighs 1,000 lb (450 kg) when alive will make a carcase weighing about 615 lb (280 kg), once the blood, head, feet, skin, offal and guts have been removed. The carcase will then be hung in a cold room for between one and four weeks, during which time it loses some weight as water dries from the meat. When boned and cut by a butcher or packing house this carcase would then make about 430 lb (200 kg) of beef.
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Famous quotes containing the words beef, cattle and/or breeds:
“That night ended the day when history was written in Abilene. August 14, 1865 was the date. That was the end of the first drive on the Chisolm Trail. It was just the first of thousands of such drives bringing beef to the world.”
—Borden Chase [Frank Fowler] (1900–1971)
“During the cattle drives, Texas cowboy music came into national significance. Its practical purpose is well known—it was used primarily to keep the herds quiet at night, for often a ballad sung loudly and continuously enough might prevent a stampede. However, the cowboy also sang because he liked to sing.... In this music of the range and trail is “the grayness of the prairies, the mournful minor note of a Texas norther, and a rhythm that fits the gait of the cowboy’s pony.””
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Fruitless striving breeds less despair than inaction.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)