Beef cattle

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle). The meat of cattle is known as beef. While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and products used in shampoo and cosmetics. The plural beeves, when referring to such meat-animals (of either sex), is well known in the American cattle industry, but is often restricted to steers.

Beef Cattle breeds

Breed	Location of Origin	Description
Afrikaner cattle	South Africa
Angus	Scotland	Pure black, sometimes with white at udder. Polled.
Beefmaster	Southern Texas
Belted Galloway		Black with white band around middle, stocky, fairly long hair, polled. Very hardy and thrifty.
Beef Shorthorn	Northern England	Red, red with white back and belly, or white.
Belgian Blue	Belgium	Grey roan, or white with grey on head. Extremely muscular. Fast-growing if well-fed.
Boran	Eastern Africa
Black Hereford	Great Britain.	Black, white head. A hybrid produced by crossing a Hereford bull with Holstein or Friesian cows; used to obtain beef ofspring from dairy cows. Not maintained as a separate breed, although females may be used for further breeding with other beef bulls.
Blonde d'Aquitaine	Aquitaine region of south-west France.	Pale brown, paler round eyes and nose. Muscular. Fast-growing if well-fed.
Brahman	India
Brangus		Developed by crossing Angus and Brahman
British White	Great Britain	White, with black or red ears, nose and feet; polled. Hardy and thrifty.
Charolais	Charolais France	Wholly white or cream, lyre-shaped pale horns. Fast-growing if well-fed.
Chianina	Italy
Dexter	Southern Ireland	Very small, black or dun, dark horns. Hardy and thrifty.
Galloway	Galloway region of Scotland	Black, stocky, fairly long hair, polled. Very hardy and thrifty.
Hereford	Herefordshire, England	Red, white head, neck and switch.
Highland	Scotland.	Small, stocky, black, red, dun or white. Very long coat and very long upswept pale horns. Very hardy and thrifty.
Irish Moiled	Northern Ireland.	Red with white back and belly, or white with red ears, nose and feet. Polled. Hardy and thrifty.
Limousin	Limousin and Marche regions of France.	Mid-brown, paler round eyes and nose. Fast-growing if well-fed.
Longhorn	Midlands of England.	Red or brindle, with white back and belly. Very long cylindrical horns, often curving down and even eventually making a circle. Large, hardy.
Luing	The isle of Luing ("Ling") and surrounding islands in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.	Rough coat, red-brown, polled. Bred by crossing Beef Shorthorn with Highland. Hardy and thrifty.
Maine-Anjou	Anjou region in West France.	Red-and-white pied.
Murray Grey	South Eastern Australia	Grey or silver polled cattle developed from a roan Shorthorn cow and an Angus bull. Easy-care versatile cattle that have been exported to many countries.
Nelore	India	Exported to Brazil, where it has become a dominant breed
North Devon	Devon, Cornwall and Somerset: the West Country in the south-west of England.	Ruby-red, white tail switch, white horns.
Red Angus	Scotland	Colour variety of Angus: pure red. Polled.
Red Poll	East Anglia in England	Red, hornless, dual purpose.
Santa Gertrudis	Southern Texas
Simmental	Western Switzerland	Yellowish-brown, white head. Fast-growing if well-fed.
Square Meater	New South Wales, Australia	Small, grey or silver, polled; similar to Murray Grey.
Sussex	South-east England	Rich chestnut red with white tail switch and white horns. Also used for draught until early 20th century. Hardy and thrifty.
Texas Longhorn	Texas	Various colours, with very long, tapering, upswept horns – extending as much as tip to tip. Very hardy in dry climates.
Wagyu	Japan
Welsh Black	Wales	Black, white horns with black tips. Hardy.
White Park	Great Britain, Ireland.	White, with black or red ears, nose and feet; white horns with dark tips. Hardy and thrifty.

Breeds known as dual purpose breeds are also used for beef production. These breeds have been selected for two purposes at once, such as for both beef and dairy production, or both beef and draught. Dual-purpose breeds include the Brown Swiss and many of the Zebu breeds of India such as Tharparkar and Ongole.

See also

• Conjugated linoleic acid
• List of breeds of cattle