The Bianca Modenese or Modenese is a breed of dual-purpose cattle from the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

, in the

Emilia Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

regions of northern Italy. It is raised for

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

and

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

production, but in the past was a triple-purpose breed, used also as a

draught animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for tr ...

. The name derives from that of the

province of Modena The Province of Modena ( it, Provincia di Modena) is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena. It has an area of and a total population of about 701,000 (2015). There are 48 ''comuni'' (singular: ''co ...

, where it is thought to have originated. In the nineteenth century it was concentrated in the area of

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

, and was sometimes known as the Carpigiana. It was later distributed through much of the Po Valley, and thus also known as the Bianca della Val Padana.

History

The origins of the Modenese are unknown. It may derive from a mixture of Reggiana and

Podolica The Podolica is a breed of domestic cattle from southern Italy. It belongs to the Podolic group of grey cattle. It is raised in the regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Puglia. It was formerly distributed throughout ...

stock; in 1889 it was still of very mixed appearance. The breed is first documented in the mid-nineteenth century, and officially known as the "Modenese" from 1880. Many cattle in the area were

wheaten Wheaten can refer to anything related to wheat, including wheat flour and wheat grain. *Wheaten bread, a type of Irish soda bread, using whole wheat grains *Wheaten cornflour, gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain ce ...

; from the last decades of the nineteenth century farmers recognised that white-coated animals yielded better-quality meat, and began to breed selectively for white colouring. The range and numbers of the Modenese expanded rapidly, particularly between 1927 and 1940. A breed standard was officially approved by the Italian ministry of agriculture in 1935, and the breed was renamed "Bianca Val Padana" to reflect its much greater area of distribution. In the early twentieth century there were 52,000 head registered; the total population was probably about 200,000. A

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

in 1944 recorded 140,000, and a further 100,000 under the name Carpigiana. Numbers began to decline after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

: in 1955 the population was again estimated at 200,000, and the Modenese constituted about 52% of the cattle raised in the province of Modena; by 1968 this had fallen to 26%. A

herd book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breede ...

was instituted in April 1957. By 2005 about 800 head remained, of which 258, including 11 bulls, were registered in the herd book. The Modenese was listed as "endangered-maintained" by the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

in 1995, in 2000, and in 2007. In 2012 a total number of 1022 was reported. The Modenese is one of the sixteen minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognised and protected by the

Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali The Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, it, Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali, italic=no or MiPAAF, is an Italian government department. It was formed in 1946 as the Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle F ...

, the Italian ministry of agriculture.

Characteristics

The Modenese is white-coated; bulls may show some of the grey shading on the neck and shoulders typical of

grey cattle Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. Bulls stand about at the shoulder and weigh about cows stand and weigh They occasionally exhibit

double muscling Myostatin (also known as growth differentiation factor 8, abbreviated GDF8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MSTN'' gene. Myostatin is a myokine that is produced and released by myocytes and acts on muscle cells to inhibit muscle ...

Use

The Modenese is raised for milk and beef. The milk is ideal for cheese making thus Parmigiano Reggiano in former days was produced with milk of Modenese White and Reggiana Red. Nowadays only a few small farms still deliver milk to special dairies for Parmigiano Reggiano.Slow Food Foundation
/ref> Because of long selection for draught use, it is willing and docile in nature, and may be used for draught work for tourism or for educational purposes.

References

External links

* {{Cattle breeds of Italy Cattle breeds originating in Italy Cattle breeds Ark of Taste foods