Popular Beef Cattle Breeds

Beef cattle are breeds of animals that have been selected to be farmed for their meat. They may have been developed through intentional breeding by farmers; or could have occurred without any significant human intervention; then been selected due to their desirable beef producing characteristics.

Some of the more popularly farmed beef breeds around the world include:

    Aberdeen Angus
    Africander
    Aubrac
    Barzona
    Bazadaise
    Beef Shorthorn
    Beefalo
    Beefmaster
    Belgian Blue
    Belmont Red
    Belted Galloway
    Blonde d'Aquitaine
    Bonsmara
    Boran
    Braford
    Brahman
    Brahmousin
    Brangus
    British White
    Buelingo
    Canchim
    Caracu
    Charolais
    Chianina
    Composite
    Corriente
    Devon
    Dexter
    Drakensberger
    Droughtmaster
    English Longhorn
    Galloway
    Gelbvieh
    Gloucester
    Hays Converter
    Hereford
    Highland
    Hybridmaster
    Limousin
    Lincoln Red
    Lowline
    Luing
    Maine-Anjou (Rouge des Prés)
    Marchigiana
    Miniature Hereford
    Mirandesa
    Mongolian
    Murray Grey
    Nelore
    Nguni
    Parthenais
    Piemontese
    Pinzgauer
    Red Angus
    Red Poll
    Retinta
    Romagnola
    Salers
    Sanganer
    Santa Cruz
    Santa Gertrudis
    Senepol
    Shetland
    Simbrah
    Simmental
    South Devon
    Speckle Park
    Square Meaters
    Sussex
    Tarentaise
    Texas Longhorn
    Tuli
    Wagyu
    Watusi
    Welsh Black
    Whitebred Shorthorn
    Zebu

Comparing Your Options

Different breeds have different characteristics. Some can be more productive than others under poorer conditions; some are adapted to a cooler climate, and others adapted to a hotter climate. There are many characteristics that come into play. Just consider the differences between a few of the breeds:

Afrikander
Other names/ Also known as: Africander.

Origin: A bos indicus breed that has been domesticated in Southern Africa for hundreds of years, but only began to be fully appreciated from around 1912 when planned and recorded breeding of this breed commenced in South Africa.

Use: Mostly kept for beef, previously as a draught animal. Weight gain can be relatively rapid, and if given the high quality feed additives (e.g. raised in feed lots) it can produce good quality beef quickly and fast. Milk production is low, but the breed’s hardiness has made it useful for breeding programs.

Characteristics: It is one of the largest cattle breeds in Africa. Commonly a dark red coat, they have large horns and a bony frame. They tend to have a docile temperament, high fertility, good weigh gain and hardy in extreme conditions.


Angus
Other Names /also known as: Black Angus, Aberdeen Angus.

Origin: Scotland. Developed in the early 19th century in north east Scotland.

Use: Beef production, Angus are a breed renowned for their excellent meat quality, marbling and high yielding carcasses.

Colours and characteristics: They come in solid black, though a small amount of white is permitted on the underline. They have a smooth hair coat and are polled. They are a moderate-sized, muscular breed.

Galloway
Origin: Scotland. Galloways are acknowledged as a Landrace breed of the Galloway region of Scotland, this means the breed evolved in that region with little to no human intervention. They are recognised as one of the oldest breeds of cattle. They are believed to have evolved from Celtic cattle.

Use: Quality beef, usually do well grazed on pastures.

Characteristics: Galloways are one of the smallest cattle breeds, bulls are approximately between 1,600 to 1,900 pounds (730 to 860 kilograms), cows are 900 to 1,250 pounds (410 to 570 kilograms), and calves have a birth weight of around 72 pounds (33 kilograms). They have a double coat consisting of a soft wavy outer fur and a think under coat. They can come in serval varieties including black, red, belted, dun and white. They are naturally polled cattle. Galloways produce well-marbled, excellent quality meat.

They are hardy, have good carcass quality and good forages. Galloway calves are reasonably hardy compared to other breeds.  They are good mothers and raise more calves to weaning than most other breeds. Having the double layer coat keeps them warm and means they usually don’t have to then store as much fat, this is why their carcasses have good fat cover.

Limousin
Origins and History: France. They were developed in central France. They were developed to withstand the hot summer and severely cold winters of central France. They are a very old breed, believed to have been documented in cave paintings from 25,000 years ago in the areas surrounding the French city of Limoges.

Use: Beef production. Early use also included draught work due to Limousin bulls heavily muscled, study frame.

Characteristics: Limousins are a medium sized breed; traditionally they are a rich gold colour, with lighter circles around the eyes. They can also come in black in Australia. They are naturally horned; however polled Limousins have now been developed in Australia. Bulls are heavily muscled.

As a result of the environment where they were developed they evolved into a sturdy, robust breed. They are adaptable to diverse climates, offer high yield and have minimum calving problems. They are good foragers and have an above average feed conversion rates. They are used in crosses to improve carcass quality.

Poll Hereford
Origin: Poll Herefords were developed from Hereford cattle of England, and were established by a breeder in American in 1898. They are now a very popular breed worldwide, and commonly found in American, England and Australia.

Use: High quality beef production.

Characteristics: Polled Herefords have the same characteristics as Herefords only without horns. The Poll variety is preferred by some due to the reduced risk of injury to people and other cattle in the herd due to horns. Having Poll Herefords also mean there is no cost associated in dehorning cattle, as this is not required.
They are descendant from the purebred horned Herefords. They have many of the same production attributes as Herefords.  In many countries the Poll Hereford and Hereford Associations are merged.

Herefords and Poll Herefords have many desirable production traits including fertility, hardiness, superior carcass and muscling, sound temperament and disposition.
Poll Herefords, just like the Hereford are also susceptible to cancer eye and can be selectively bred to have the red markings around their eyes to help avoid the development of cancer eye.