250px, Salers cattle The Salers ( or ''La Salers''; plural: ''Les Salers'') is a breed of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

which originated in

Cantal Cantal (; or ) is a rural Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint-Flou ...

in the Massif Central of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. They are a large breed, with the female weighing between 700 and 750 kg (1,543 to 1,653 lb) and standing 1.40 m (4.6 feet) tall. They have a thick, mahogany red or black coat, and long, lyre-shaped, light-coloured horns. A small percentage is naturally born without horns (polled). In the 19th century, the breeder

Ernest Tyssandier d'Escous Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian ...

set about to better the breed by selective breeding. Originally bred for

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an ani ...

, this dual-purpose breed was especially appreciated for its ability to withstand extreme variations in temperature, its fertility, its ease of breeding, its

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

(even if the presence of the calf was required to milk it), and its

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

. In Cantal, the farmers practise mountain pasture, with the herd passing summer at altitude in the mountains. A female can produce almost 3,000 kg (6,614 lb) of fat-rich milk each year of her life. The milk is traditionally used to produce

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

cheese such as

and Salers cheese, as well as the AOC

Fin Gras du Mézenc Fin Gras du Mézenc is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée, appellation of origin for a French cattle-breeding product. It is protected at European level by a Appellation d'origine contrôlée, AOP ("Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée"). Its ori ...

. The Salers is also used to produce

veal Veal is the meat of Calf (animal), calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any List of cattle breeds, breed; however, most veal comes from young male calves of Dairy cattle, dairy b ...

calves by cross-breeding with

Charolais cattle The Charolais () or Charolaise () is a French breed of taurine beef cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the Charolais area surrounding Charolles, in the Saône-et-Loire department, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern Fr ...

. Currently, about 300,000 head of Salers are in

. They are exported to more than 25 countries in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

External links

Union for the promotion and selection of Salers
* http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/salers/ Cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in France {{cattle-stub