Tarentaise cattle from the French Alps
The Tarentaise cattle are named after the valley of their origin Vallée de la Tarentaise in the heart of the French Alps, located in the rugged Savoy region of France. The valley is named for the ancient town of Darantasia, the capital of the pre-Roman Centrones tribe. There the cattle are kept solely for dairying and for the making of Beaufort, a Gruyere-type cheese. Beaufort was already known in the time of the Romans and is named after a small rural town of the region. The varierty Beaufort d’Alpage is made with milk from Tarine (or Tarentaise) cows. Since the cows summer in the mountains and graze exclusively on natural pastures, it is said that tasters can feel the grass and flowers of the mountain when eating a piece of Beaufort!
These cattle have been an integral part of Alpine traditions seemingly forever, and Colin and I considered this breed before we knew we would be successful in bringing the Tiroler Grauvieh to Canada. The Tarentaise breed is already established in Canada, and in December of 2009 we bought a yearling bull from a breeder in Alberta. This bull grew up to be a dream-come-true. He was simply stunning in look, conformation and health, but best of all he had the kindest nature. He was a potent sire and good father, and remained as docile as a lamb by the time he weight 2,000 lbs. It would not have been a compromise to breed Tarentaise had the Government of Canada refused our request to import Tiroler Grauvieh. We have retained a castrated male offspring to keep as ox in memory of this great bull.
Tarentaise cattle are of moderate size with cows weighing on average 1,100 lbs with a height at the withers of 130-135 cm. Bulls average at 1,800 lbs and 140 -145 cm at the withers. The coat is uniformly reddish-brown with black pigmented skin, giving the cattle black hooves and a black nose. A pronounced mealy muzzle – a trademark of many European alpine breeds – is common, as are black rimmed ears and eyes, and a black switch at the end of the tail. Beyond its maternal qualities, docile temperament, disease resistance, hardiness, and productivity as dairy and beef animal, these are truly beautiful cattle.
Our Tarentaise bull "Westcan Windsor 905" ... affectionally called "Rusty".
In their native land, the cows are managed on pasture under intensive grazing management. The average production is 5,500 kilos (12,199 lbs) of milk in a 305 day lactation without feeding any concentrate. Cows are dried off in the fall and kept in the barn from October through April because of snow and the danger of avalanche. Their basic ration is hay, sometimes haylage. Most calving and breeding occur in winter. In May the cows are turned out onto lush pastures at 2,500 feet. In June they are moved to high and extremely steep pastures at an average elevation of 8,000 feet. Daily temperatures often swing from below freezing to high above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Grazing ski slopes, the cattle are so removed from any town that the herdsmen actually stay with the cows for the entire three months and make the cheese on the spot. The Tarentaise breed is a basic component of the quality of the Savoy landscape. All summer, the Tarentaise cows play an important part in maintaining the ski slopes: grass which is cropped retains the mantle of snow and limits the risk of avalanches. Tarentaise are the only cattle in Europe hardy enough to graze this region profitably. Climbing at these altitudes is what makes their remarkable natural muscling and marbling, as well as endowing the breed with a very robust cardiovascular system.
