Pilipino Cattle Industry Development

GELBVIEH

5656 kg. Milk 4.18% fat 3.60% protein in 2001 herdbook cows
The Gelbvieh (pronounced GEL-FEE) or yellow cattle, trace back to an early 19th century crossbreeding project involving the Keltic-German Landrace of Northern Bavaria and Simmental, Shorthorn and Heil-Brown Landrace cattle. The result was a dual purpose beef breed. Gelbvieh were first imported from Germany in 1972. This breed is known for fast growth, efficient feed conversion, added fertility, calving ease and excellent milk production.
Gelbvieh excel in there performance traits because the German government's "Planned Mating Program" is one of the world's most stringent selection programs, and this program is more than 25 years old. Only 3% of all registered cows qualify to produce the new AI sires based on breeding values, structural correctness and conformation.
Progency tests are conducted on only half of the performance tested bulls. Offspring from young sires are studied for gestation length, birth weights and calving ease. Male progeny are tested additionally for growth rate, slaughter weight and carcass quality and the heifers are scored for conformation, udder soundness, fertility, weight, and milk production.
More than 110 years of breeding and selection produced the Gelbvieh we know today. Semen is released in Germany if these tests prove a bull superior.
Full blooded Gelbvieh are reddish-gold to russet with fine, dense hair and well pigmented skin, creating resistance to udder and eye disease. Physically, Gelbvieh are well balanced, long bodied with structural soundness and dark hard hooves. This moderately large breed transmits impressive beef characteristics in cross breeding programs. Mature bulls typically weigh between 2,000-2,400 lbs. Adult cows usually weigh 1,150-1,350 lbs. with 1,200 about average. They exhibit a long smooth muscle pattern without excessive "bulginess".
Proper selection has added among other traits, docility, an added plus for those managing bull tests cow herds and feedlots. The USDA has documented that Gelbvieh cows are exceptionally fertile. Cattlemen are continuously impressed with the short calving seasons in most of the nation's Gelbvieh herds. A 92% calf drop from mature females is not unusual, according to many research studies. Many cows calve up to 15 years old. U.S. cattlemen are finding Gelbvieh females mature early and calve easily at 24 months.
Unassisted births are the rule not the exception. In one particular study, Gelbvieh cows produced 99% live calf drop with minimum calving difficulties, and heifers produced 97.3%. Birth weights range from 65-95 lbs.
Gelbvieh cows average more than 8,000 lbs of milk per lactation and 4% butter fat. This milk produciton ensures sufficient energy for fat growing claves. Strongly attached udders enable the milk flow to adapt to the calves needs.
Cattle capable of producing extra beef or faster ADGs per lb of feed or acre of forage probably best defines feed efficiency. Conversion efficiency traits are valid only at regulated test centers. Gelbvieh's feed conversion ranks favorably.
Gelbvieh are known throughout Germany for their carcass weight per day of age, dressing percentage and palatability. In the U.S. Gelbvieh steers are winning carcass contests. For example, a purebred steer produced the champion carcass at the 1982 Southwest Utah contest. The 1,135 lb. calf had a backfat thickness of .15 inches and a ribeye area of 13.6 sq. inches. It also had a 1.5 yield grade with 2% fat.
Gelbvieh genetics enhance crossbreeding programs, they can be used as terminal sires to contribute more growth. Gelbvieh cross bred females make excellent replacements, and thus fit into rotational crossbreeding programs. Gelbvieh's balanced performance allows commercial cattlemen to produce feeder cattle, seedstock or both depending on market conditions. Superior maternal and growth traits qualify Gelbvieh for any commercial crossbreeding program.
Effectifs
14 000 vaches dont 6 143 contrôlées

Qualités laitières
production laitière : 4 718 kg
taux butyreux : 36,1 ‰
taux azoté : 33,7 ‰

Qualités bouchères
poids de carcasse de taurillons ( 17 mois) : 290 kg
rendement commercial : 56 %
dépots adipeux : 16%

Zuchtverband für Gelbvieh in Bayern
Ottostr. 21,
D - 96047 Bamberg, Germany
PH: 49 - 951 - 24 520

TARENTAISE

The Tarentaise corresponds to the tawny-brown cattle population of the central area of the Alps, selected for its milk production in mountain conditions. The animals, which spend the summer on alpine pastures at altitudes of between 1,800 and 2,500 m, are used to living in very difficult conditions : long distances to walk in the mountains, hilly terrains, extreme variations in temperature and feed based on rough forage.
As early as the first written documents in the time of the Roman Empire, Pliny the Elder was praising "the milking qualities of these little cows from the Alps". The most plausible hypothesis attributes the zoological origin of the Tarentaise to a crossing between the two bloodlines Bos taurus Jurassicus and Bos taurus Alpinus, both descendants of tawny or brown populations which had come from the Indo-Asiatic continent via Central Europe.
In1863, the breed is mentioned for the first time under the name of TARENTAISE. But it was in 1865 that Montmayeur made the first description of the Tarentaise breed. At that time, he distinguished between two sub-categories: a grey branch "with a Tarin coat", numbering 20,000 in the region of Moûtiers, and another reddish brown and tawny branch in the Beaufortain, which had much larger numbers.
In the Moûtiers Congress in 1866 was already deciding the first selection elements for the Tarentaise breed, opening the way for the creation of the first "Tarentaise Herd Book" in 1888. It was then that the official name of Tarentaise or Tarine cattle breed was adopted. From that time, the Tarine quickly spread throughout Savoy, then through all of the Alps and after that over all the mountain ranges of France: from the Pyrenees to the Vosges via the Massif Central.
It was not long before it was appreciated outside France too. During the 1960s and 1970s, there were numerous exports to North Africa and North America. The Tarentaise was at that time one of the most popular French breeds for export. Since 1974, the Tarentaise UPRA (National Tarentaise Cattle Breed Selection and Promotion Unit) has included all the partners in the breed: breeders, selection, marketing and associated industries. In 1992, the World Federation of the Tarentaise breed was created, grouping together all the Tarentaise breed professionals throughout the world.
The Tarentaise breed has always been used in mountain farms with alpine traditions. Its qualities, which have been developed to suit these farming methods, mean that it is in great demand for new systems adapted to difficult conditions. The Tarentaise is to be found all over the Northern Alps, particularly in its birthplace, Savoy, and also in the Southern Alps and the Massif Central. There are also localised herds in the Pyrenees and the Mountains of the Vosges. Most Tarentaise farms are situated in the high valleys where the milk is turned into cheese.
Herd management is closely linked to the rhythm of the seasons. In winter, the animals are kept in fettered housing. They go indoors as soon as the weather turns cold, or with the first fall of snow, and they remain in their winter quarters until the spring. They are fed essentially on hay during this time. In summer, they return to the high mountain pastures ( at altitudes of between 1,500 and 2,500 m ). In some cases, the herds are brought together before being put out to summer pasture. These groupings also belong to the traditional use of the mountains developed by farmers over the years.
These pastoral groupings enable the farmers to get on with hay-making while the cows are kept at high altitude. In spring and autumn, the animals are on the upland meadows. In this way, the cows are milked indoors for part of the year and the rest of the time outside, using mobile milking parlours.
The Tarentaise breed is a basic component of the quality of the Savoy landscape. All summer, the Tarentaise cows play an important part in maintaining the ski slopes: grass which is cropped retains the mantle of snow and limits the risk of avalanches.
The Tarentaise is the answer to the needs of many of today's farmers. Because it is so adaptable, and produces so well in difficult conditions, it is the perfect animal for the new extensive dairy or suckler systems.

Weight of adult bulls : 600 to 1,000 kg
Weight of adult cows : 500 to 580 kg
Height at withers of adult cows : 130 to 135 cm


Population in France : 15000 cows, 6673 of them recorded


The Tarentaise breed is particularly remarkable for its hardy qualities and its adaptability either to mountain pasture, or to life in difficult conditions, at the dual level of climate and nutrition of hot countries. This hardy character is revealed by the cull rate of the females, much lower than in other breeds which are managed in the same conditions. Its milk production level is quite exceptional, taking into account its size and its farm management conditions, since the average of cows recorded is established at 4,732 kg of milk at 3.60 % of fat content and 3.35 % of protein content. The beefing abilities are satisfactory : the young bulls produce carcasses of 280 to 300 kg, the dry cows very easily regain condition, and their carcass yield is, because of their fine bone structure, very comparable to that of breeds with better conformation. In addition, the Tarentaise cow gives excellent results in industrial crossing and its calving ability is, from this point of view, quite remarkable.
The selection programme aims on the one hand, to preserve very carefully the hardiness of the breed, and on the other hand, to improve its milking aptitudes (on-farm progeny testing of the heifers) and the conformation of the animals. In France, the Tarentaise breed is principally reared in Savoy and in Isère, but it is also to be found in the South Alps, on the foothills of the South-East of the Massif Central and in certain valleys of the Vosges.
Outside France, the Tarentaise is highly appreciated in various countries of North Africa (Tunisia, Egypt) where it is used with great success, as pure breed and in crossing with the native cattle, in the dry areas. This breed has also been exported to Albania, Brazil, Spain, Japan and in Africa. It is also used in North America (USA and Canada) for beef production in a suckler system, on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in semi-extensive conditions.
Number of result Fat content(0/00) Protein content(0/00) Milk production (kg)
6189 36,6 32 4741

* Milk Recording results, corrected lactations, Livestock Institute - FCL, 2000.
UPRA TARENTAISE
11, rue Métropole
73000 CHAMBÉRY
FRANCE
Tel : +33 (0)4 79 33 44 18 - Fax : +33 (0)4 79 33 30 06
http://www.upra-tarentaise.com

The objectives of the Tarentaise breed or the breed standard
The Tarentaise breed standard tends towards combining dairy traits with sufficient muscular and functional morphology to give an optimum response to farmers' requirements.
IDENTITY CARD
- Uniformly reddish-brown coat
- Lyre-shaped horns, with black tips
- Black hooves, mucous membranes and extremities
- Height at withers: .130-135 cm (female) .140-145 cm (male)

female weight table
Age Reference weight (Kg)
Birth 40
12 months 220
2 years 350
350
At first calving 500
Adult (5 years) 550-600

male weight table
Birth 45
12 months : 390
Adult : 800

Hardiness: this is the capacity of an animal to produce and reproduce, making optimal use of what is available in its surroundings, with a minimum of supplementation.
- Black mucous membranes: a useful trait
With its black mucous membranes and extremities, the Tarentaise is protected against the harmful effects of the sun: ophthalmia, glaucoma... Moreover, the coloured pigmentation of its skin protects it from sunburn, notably the udders
- Excellent conversion of the widest variety of forage
Originating as it did from a very harsh environment, where grass is sometimes scarce and long distances have to be covered to find it, the Tarentaise has developed its capacity for making the best use of natural resources, accepting whatever is available.
- Resistant to parasite diseases
In countries where there is a serious problem of parasitism (equatorial regions), the Tarentaise has the best resistance of all the imported breeds: piroplasmosis, heartwater... What is more, its uniformly reddish- brown coat reduces attacks from stinging and sucking insects…
- Good longevity
The qualities of resistance of the Tarentaise enable it to have long productive careers (20 % of recorded cows are more than 10 years old).
- At ease in the rockiest landscapes
With its hard, black hooves and its sound sturdy legs, the Tarentaise negotiates the most dangerous places in comfort and is well able to withstand long periods in winter quarters.
- A dairy cow in its own right… and a suckler cow too.
The tarentaise has been selected to produce high quality milk, chiefly intended for cheese production (Beaufort, Reblochon, Tome des Bauges, Tomme and emmental de Savoie). In some regions such as the Massif Central, and in the United States or Canada, it is used in suckler systems, either as crossbred for its maternal qualities and easy calving, or as pedigree stock, for its fine textured beef and good killing-out percentage (from 65 to 69 %).
- Capable of adapting to varied climates
the Tarentaise can resist daily extremes of temperature of more than 40°C (from -5°C in the morning to + 35°C in the afternoon in the summer mountain pastures) as well as extreme temperatures (Canadian winters, Mediterranean heat-waves).

Canada, USA, Mexico, Guyana, Brazil, Albania, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ivory Coast