Bovine Breeding in Portugal

The Portugal is a country where the bovine breeding plays a minor part.

By his climate and his geography, one does not find plains rich and wet favourable with the bovine breeding, nor of enough high mountains to offer a mountain pasture of quality in summer. It thus results a prevalence from it from beef breeds. The traditional dairy breeding is very reduced, the traditional cheese-making production coming primarily from milk of Chèvre or ewe.

History

It is marked by similarities with that of the bovine Élevage in Spain.

The settlement

It was done since prehistory, by:

Iberian Branch. It is resulting from the local domestication of the Aurochs.
fair Branch and red: It can come from a local domestication of the aurochs, or its arrival with Ibères. (It covers, in Europe, a territory which corresponds to the development of these people)
brown Rameau: It is about the brown branch with fawn-coloured dress arrival of Africa. The Arab conquest was accompanied by the arrival of cattle of Africa of north. Adapted to the local conditions, it was well established.

Evolution

In the north of the country, a zone of relief poor and escarpée with given an ancestral breeding of bovines of feature which provided meat at the time of their reform. They are races resulting from the crossings between the branches fair and red and brown branch. They are characterized by a modest size of the individuals, but a great rusticity and a good aptitude for work. The meat is thin and its taste is more and more southern recherché.
Au, the breeding in herds in great extents is practiced, as in Spain, in a semi-arid zone. It gave races of intermediate size, suited to walk or the races at long distances, rustic and in extensive breeding. Part of this breeding is turned towards the supply of Taureau X of Corrida.

Today

Vis-a-vis an ancestral breeding, the market of the meat claimed better conformed and more profitable carcasses. Foreign races, like the Fair of Aquitaine, the limousine, the Charolaise were imported. Their breeding in pure race is rare, but their influence is very important in artificial insemination.
Face with these interbreedings, manpower in pure race crumbled. Herd books were created for each race and a program of safeguarding is set up. It has two aims:

to maintain a variability genetic invaluable: to preserve stable manpower and to manage consanguinity.
to provide reproducers of quality for the breedings in crossings: heifers ready to receive seed of beef breed. (good conformation of the basin for the vélage, good mother, dairy capacity for breast feeding…)

The producers of pure races autochtones are now federate in assocaitions of stockbreeders. Their work bears his fruits, since manpower of races in danger are stabilized or light growth, and the meat which comes from it is seen rewarded by seals of origin.

Production

Dairy breeding

It very mainly relates to 340.000 cows of race Holstein which feed agribusiness industry. Some herds of Cachena or Arouquesa produce milk for the fabrisation of a local cheese, and some Ayrshire cows were introduced in the Azores.
La population holstein is subjected to an important selection which carried the production to an average of 7900 kg milk on a 305 days lactation. (figures 2003) artificial insemination is majority with 602 bulls available in 2004 and of the very important imports of seed of the United States.

Breeding butcher

He relates to 360.000 animals, of which 20% are races autochtones. The majority of the breeding consists of cows of local races crossed with bulls of imported races bouchères. However, the stockbreeders of pure local races chose a better communication after the episode of the ESB. They turned to a production of meat of quality recognized by signs of origin. (label, AOP…)
Au northern and in the center of the country, the production is rather centered on calves of less than seven months. (milk calves) In the Alentejo, the young bovines are fattened up to 18 or 24 months. The calves of the dairy herd of the Azores, are exported towards the continent before demolition.

Races

Races autochtones

Races of the Iberian Branch: Faced Portuguese, Maronesa, Mertolenga, Preta.
Races of the fair Branch and red: Alentejana, Garvonesa, Marinhoa, Minhota.
Races resulting from the crossing fair Branch and red X brown Branch: Arouquesa, Barrosa, Cachena, Mirandesa.

Imported races

dairy Races: Holstein, Ayrshire.
Races bouchère: Fair of Aquitaine, Charolaise, Limousine.

Notes and references of the article

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