CATTLE: Piedmontese

Country of Origin

Italy

Australian Status

International Status

Common in Italy, estimated at least 500,000. Also in Canada, USA (plentiful), South America, Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Great Britain, Holland, Mexico, Poland, and New Zealand.

Uses

Milk and Beef

Breed Traits

 Famous cheeses made from the milk - such as Castelmagno, Bra, Raschera, and Toma Piemontese.

Like other Italian white breeds, the calves are born fawn and go white-grey. Bulls grey or wheaten and have black hair on the neck, head and around eyes, end of limbs. Some have grey shading. Tails have black tassel. Small horns but poll lines mostly bred to now.

• Excellent mothers. Very fertile. 
• Lean tender beef due to myostatin mutation. Little to no fat.
• Thin skin. White to wheaten colour, some grey shading.
• Medium size, cows 520 to 600k. Bull 700-950k.
• Inactive myostatin gene causes double muscling also known as muscular hypertrophy; homozygous for this gene. This mutation appeared in 1886.
• Calving is easy as the myostatin mutation is delayed until a couple of weeks after birth.

History

Ancient breed. From alps country, descended from ancient cattle of the region of 25,000 years ago.

First herd book started 1887 - the year after the double muscling mutation was seen. Careful registration and monitoring the breed prevented this gene destroying the breed, while maintaining extra flesh - usually 14% more than breeds without the mutation.

HIstory in Australia

They arrived in Australia in 1990.  Brag-burn stud, Yundi, South Australia were advertising them in 1993, probably the first importers to Australia, presumably as straws and embryos.

News photo from the Times (Victor Harbour, South Australia newspaper), 28th January, 1999.

Breed Organisation

None

Australian Population

2022: 15 cows

Photo Credit

Top: Piedmontese, photo by Aleks; Wiki.

Bottom: News photo from the Times (Victor Harbour, South Australia newspaper), 28th January, 1999

Page by Janet Lane, August 2022

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