The Aubrac is a very old French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 breed of cattle

Beef cattle

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production . The meat of cattle is known as beef. When raised in a feedlot cattle are known as feeder cattle. Many such feeder cattle are born in cow-calf operations specifically designed to produce beef calves...

 used for beef. Tan in color, with long lyre-type horns, Aubracs are a tough breed with high resistance to disease, high longevity and easy calving. Though primarily a beef breed, the milk from Aubrac cattle is also used to make traditional Laguiole

Laguiole (cheese)

Laguiole , sometimes called Tome de Laguiole, is a French cheese from the plateau of Aubrac, situated at between 800 - 1500m, in the region of Aveyron in the southern part of France. It takes its name from the little village Laguiole and has been protected under the French Appellation d'Origine...

 cheese.

History

The Aubrac is a very old French beef cattle breed with 150 years of breeding history. After centuries of breeding selection by French monks, it was decided to open a herd book in 1893. It was the golden age of the breed. Cows spent the winter in the farm and gave birth to calves. At the end of spring the cows went to the mountains, where rich grass and flowers give the best milk to make a cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 named Laguiole. At the farm, young bulls were bred to became draft oxen. 300,000 Aubrac existed at this time. At the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the popularity of oxen saw a decline, and after the 1950s, milk was more cheaply produced by new breeds like Braunvieh

Braunvieh

Braunvieh is a breed of cattle originating from Switzerland. Braunvieh cattle imported to the United States in the 19th century were the origin of the modern, Brown Swiss cattle breed. Since the 1960s, Brown Swiss cattle have been crossed back into the Braunvieh stock of Europe...

 or Holstein

Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

 cows. With the previous niches now filled by other breeds, the Aubrac became a beef breed. Today, around 3000 cows are inscribed in the French studbook, the whole population in France representing approximately 10,000 cows. In Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 there are 2,500 cows, half of them inscribed in a studbook.

Morphology

The color is tan, darker on the nose and eyes, circled with white. The skin is black and the long horns are of lyre type. This breed is medium tall: 130 centimetres (51.2 in) for 600 kilograms (1,322.8 lb) cows and 140 centimetres (55.1 in) for 900 kilograms (1,984.2 lb) bulls.

Use

Because of many years of selection for hardiness, a tough breed was developed with a high level of resistance to disease, frugality, easy calving and longevity. Most of the cows are kept as suckler cows. In France, 60% of the cows are covered

Covered

Covered is a term used in popular music in general to refer to a song recorded by different performer from its original or most popular recorded version, and by some disc jockeys in particular to describe a musical recording presented under the guise of a false title and artist name...

 by Charolais

Charolais cattle

Charolais cattle are a beef breed of cattle which originated in Charolais, around Charolles, in France. They are raised for their meat and are known for their composite qualities when crossed with other breeds, most notably Angus and Hereford cattle...

bulls, because of the ability of the Aubracs to successfully cross with heavy beef breeds. With the financial help of local authorities, small groups of farmers still choose to keep a few Aubracs around for dairy use.

External links

• UPRA AUBRAC Aubrac breed association based in France
• Aubrac International Inc. Aubrac breed association based in USA
• GIE Race Aubrac for the expansion of the Aubrac Breed
• Aubrac in Ireland Aubrac breed association based in Ireland