Cattle Breeds and Crossbreeding

Corriente Cattle

Original Spanish cattle primarily used in rodeo events such as team roping and steer wrestling.

Florida Cracker Cattle

Florida's equivalent to the Texas Longhorn, previously referred to as Piney Woods, Florida Scrub, or Florida Native Cattle.

Breeds of Cattle

Categories of cattle including English Breeds (Maternal) and Continental Breeds (Terminal).

English Breeds

Cattle breeds that are maternal in nature, including Angus, Red Angus, Hereford, and Shorthorn.

Continental Breeds

Cattle breeds that are terminal in nature, including Charolais, Gelbvieh, Limousin, and Simmental.

Heat Tolerant Breeds

Breeds adapted to subtropical climates, including Brahman, Senepol, and Longhorn.

Composite Breeds

Breeds created from crossbreeding, including Brangus, Braford, Beefmaster, and Santa Gertrudis.

Angus

Must be at least 51% black and exhibit 'Angus influence'; in the top third of the USDA quality grade; must grade Prime or upper 2/3 of Choice; must meet all 10 criteria to be labeled CAB; originated in Scotland; color: black; most prominent beef cattle breed in the U.S.; popular for carcass and maternal traits.

Hereford

Originated in Europe; color: red with white face and white points on body; popular for their survivability and crossbreeding (carcass traits); includes Polled Hereford and Horned Hereford.

Red Angus

Originated in England; color: red; similar to Angus but has separate breed associations.

Shorthorn

Originated in England; color: red, white, or a combination of red and white, roan; popular for their maternal and carcass qualities; developed as a dual purpose breed, for both meat and milk production.

Braunvieh

A breed of cattle known for its dual-purpose qualities, primarily in milk and meat production.

Charolais

Originated in France; Color: light tan to cream white; Popular for growth and carcass characteristics; Terminal breed.

Gelbvieh

Originated in Germany; Color: golden to rust (black); Popular for growth and maternal traits.

Limousin

Originated in France; Color: various shades of red to black; Popular for growth traits.

Simmental

Origin: Switzerland; Color: Tan to red and white, solid tan to red with white face, black; Popular for growth and maternal traits.

Brahman

Originated in the U.S. through crossing of several Bos indicus breeds; Color: Gray or red (can be as dark as black); Popular for their heat and insect tolerance and disease resistance; Able to thrive in harsh environments; Used in crossbreeding systems; Popular breed in the southern U.S.

Brahman Influence in Louisiana

0 to ¼ Brahman: American Brahman developed from three Indian Zebu breeds: Gir, Nelore, Guzerat; ¼ to ½ Brahman; ½ to purebred Brahman.

Senepol

Originated in the Virgin Islands, St. Croix (Red Poll and N'Dama); Color: various shades of red; Popular for heat tolerance, ruggedness (ability to survive in harsh environments), low birth weights.

Texas Longhorn

Origin: Spain, Mexico, U.S.; Multicolor/pattern; Initially very popular for early maturing and survivability.

Composite Breed

A breed made up of at least two component breeds, designed to retain heterosis in future generations without crossbreeding and maintained as a purebred; Breed made up of two or more breeds with defined proportions; Ex. Brangus (3/8 Brahman, 5/8 Angus) - must be these proportions, you don't just cross a Brahman and an Angus!

Brangus

Breed Brangus to Brangus to continue breed.

Braford

3/8 Brahman, 5/8 Hereford; Origin: U.S.; Color: red and white; Popular for their maternal traits.

Research Station, Louisiana

Color: black or red; Popular for maternal and carcass traits; heat tolerant.

Super Baldy

Hereford X F1 Brangus.

Santa Gertrudis

3/8 Brahman; 5/8 Shorthorn; Origin: U.S.→King Ranch, TX; Color: red; Popular for heat tolerance, maternal traits, carcass.

Beefmaster

1/2 Brahman, 1/4 Shorthorn, 1/4 Hereford; Origin: U.S.; Color: Multicolored (Red, white, tan, black); Popular for maternal traits, heat tolerance, carcass.

Maternal Breed

A breed that excels in maternal traits.

Maternal trait

A trait especially important in breeding females.

Terminal Sire Breeding

Crossbreeding in which maternal females are mated to paternal-breed sires to efficiently produce progeny that are especially desirable from a market standpoint.

Terminal sire

A paternal-breed sire used in terminal sire crossbreeding.

Paternal trait

A trait especially important in market offspring.

Gain efficiency

A measure of the efficiency of weight gain in livestock.

Meat quality

The characteristics of meat that determine its acceptability to consumers.

Carcass yield

The amount of meat produced from a carcass.