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

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

which originated in

Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a 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 ...

in the

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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 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 animal t ...

, 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 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 ...

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

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

. 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 An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

cheese such as

and

Salers cheese Salers (french: Le Salers) is a French semi-hard cheese originating from Salers, in the volcanic region of the Cantal mountains of the Massif Central, Auvergne, central France. It is a pressed, uncooked cheese, sometimes made from Salers cow's m ...

. The Salers is also used to produce veal 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 F ...

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

. They are exported to more than 25 countries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

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

, and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

External links

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