Salers (cattle)

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For other uses, see Salers (disambiguation).

Salers cattle

The Salers (French: race de Salers or La Salers; plural: Les Salers) is a breed of cattle which originated in Cantal in the Massif Central of France.

They are a large breed of cattle, with the female weighing in at between 700 and 750 kg and standing 1.40 metres tall. They have a thick mahogany red or black coat, and long, lyre-shaped, light-coloured horns. A small percentage are naturally born without horns (polled).

In the 19th century, the breeder Ernest Tyssandier d'Escous set about to better this race by selective breeding.

Originally bred for work, this dual purpose cow was especially appreciated for its ability to withstand extreme variations in temperature, its fertility, its ease of breeding, its milk (even if the presence of the calf was required in order to milk it) and its meat. In Cantal, the farmers practice mountain pasture, with the herd passing summer at altitude in the mountains. A female can produce almost 3,000 kg of fat-rich milk each year of her life. The milk is traditionally used to produce Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) cheese such as Cantal and Salers cheese. The Salers is also used to produce veal calves by cross breeding with Charolais cattle.

Currently, there are about 300,000 head of Salers in France. They are exported to more than 25 countries in Europe, North America, Africa and Oceania.