Beef Cattle Breed

• Considerations for Breed Selection

  • Production system
  • Market demands
  • Quantity and quality of feedstuffs available
  • Climate
  • Breed complementarity
  • Cost and availability of purebred stock
• Traits Important for Selecting Dam Breeds

  • early puberty
  • moderate mature size
  • high fertility
  • moderate to high milking ability (appropriate for feed resources)
  • calving ease
  • longevity
  • acceptable growth and carcass characteristics
• Traits Important for Selecting Sire Breeds

  • high growth rate with moderate mature size
  • acceptable calving ease
  • adequate carcass quality grades (marbling)
  • high retail product yield
• Aberdeen-Angus

  • Black (white is not permitted except on the underline behind the navel and then only to a moderate extent.
  • polled

  
• Red Angus

  • known for their maternal traits.

  
• Charolais

  • they are white or creamy white in color, but the skin carries appreciable pigmentation.
  • has an ability to walk, graze aggressively in warm weather, withstand reasonable cold, and raise heavy calves
  • is a naturally horned

  
• Devon

  • red in color, varying in shade from a rich deep red to a light red or chestnut color.
  • the "Red Rubies.“
  • active good "walkers" and are excellent rustlers and grazers. In England, they are known as "the Beef Breed Supreme at Grass."

  
• Galloway

  • They are the smallest of the beef breeds
  • "Galloway cattle are generally very docile,"
  • are good rustlers and extremely hardy, able to stand cold weather conditions
  • The breed is polled, has short legs, and is block and compact in type.

  
• Herefords

  • "white-faced cattle.“

  
• Scotch Highland

  • They are small but exceedingly hardy.

  
• Brahman

  • produce an oily secretion from the sebaceous glands which has a distinctive odor and is reported to assist in repelling insects.
  • instead of a "moo" they produce a grunt.
  • They are resistant to Texas fever and can stand heat well.

  
• Limousin

  • They are long-bodied, heavy muscled, trim-middled, and relatively light-boned.
  • referred to as the "butcher's animal" in France.

  
• Maine-Anjou

  • The coat color is red, red with white spots, or roan.
  • The coloring is a very dark red with white markings on the head, belly, rear legs and tail. White on other parts of the body is also common.

  
• Shorthorn

  • In form, they are large, rectangular, and well muscled.

  
• Simmental

  • they were known for their imposing stature and excellent dairy qualities.
  • The breed is known by a variety of names, including "Fleckvieh" in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as many other European countries."Pie Rouge", "Montbeliard", and "Abondance" in France; and "Pezzata Rossa" in Italy.
  • In color they are light red or cream with faces much like the Herefords.

  
• Chianina

  • They are white with a black switch on the tail. Their skin pigment is uniformly black.
  • They are quite possibly the largest cattle in the world

  
• Murray Grey

  • are solid dark to silver gray in color. They are known for their rapid gains, superior carcasses, easy calving, and docile dispositions

  
• Santa Gertrudis

  • A deep cherry-red color has been established in the breed.
  • Modern Santa Gertrudis cattle are approximately five-eighths Shorthorn and three-eighths Brahman.

  
• Africander (Afrikander)

  • exhibit good resistance to heat, a high level of tick resistance, quiet temperament and a satisfactorily high level of fertility under harsh conditions.

  
• Gelbvieh (Gelp-fee)

  • The breed is red in color, with strong skin pigmentation, and horned.
  • Polled cattle have been developed in the United States from the use of naturally hornless foundation females.

  
• Salers (Sa’lair)

  • typically horned and dark mahogany red in color, however a growing number of polled and black Salers are available.