Cattle : MONTBÉLIADE

Species: Bos taurus

Country of origin : France. Montbéliard, in the département of Doubs, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. 

Australian Status:

International status:

Arrived in Australia:

Australian Population: unknown

Distribution:

History: Often called Montys. Descend from Bernoise cattle brought by the Mennonites in the 18th Century to France, and originally called Alsatian cattle, name change to Montbéliarde in the mid 1800's.

Whilst rare in Australia, this sturdy breed is popular in France and is now found in several other countries.

Breed traits: Dual purpose although primarily dairy.  Red and white pied dairy breed. Faces (most of head) always white. Horned, but usually dehorned. Strong, robust breed often used to put some strength back into dairy breeds.

Do not give as much milk as Holsteins, but have good shaped udders and teats and the milk is high protein and high butter fat, famous for cheese making because of its high level of protein content and a high frequency of Kappa Casein B variants. Emmental and Gruyère are famous cheeses made from their milk.

The beef is very good quality - this helps sells bull calves. 

Very docile nature. Good strong conformation with famously tough feet. Cows average 685 kilos, bulls 1,100 to 1,200 kilos.

Good resistance to mastitis, making them very popular in France.

Straws are commercially available in Australia and many successful crosses have been made, particularly with Friesians. Investigating if any pure Montys are here.

Organisation: None found in Australia.

Additional Notes:

Photo : Vaches Montbéliardes, by Classiccardinal, WilimediaCommons

Page by Janet Lane

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