Chianina Cattle
are an ancient breed that has been raised for over twenty-two centuries and is
indigenous to Val di Chiana (near Arezzo, Italy). Their meats are both
tender and flavorful, and because of the size reached by the animals the steaks
can easily exceed 6 pounds.
They had spread
throughout all the provinces in Central Italy and, following World War II, they
had also crossed the ocean into South America, Australia, Canada, and the
United States. The giant of the species, pure white and highly noble in its
morphological perfection, Chianina has earned an international reputation
thanks to a genetic heritage that is unique throughout the world. Its
characteristics of somatic gigantism, rapid growth and early maturity are
combined with enormous resistance to harsh environmental conditions and great
ease of calving, all of which represent zootechnical factors essential to the
production of beef that is commercially superior since it is lean and offers
excellent nutritional characteristics. Put together, these characteristics have
made Chianina one of the best beef cattle breeds in the world.
The National
Association of Italian Beef-Cattle Breeders (ANABIC -
www.anabic.it) was
established to promote and implement all types of initiatives aimed towards
improving, developing, ad spreading the autochthonous Italian cattle breeds:
Marchigiana, Chianina, Romagnola, Maremmana and Podolica. ANABIC, which came
about by merging the previously existing individual National Breed Associations,
has taken on their responsibilities as far as selection is concerned and has
set up a single National Herd Book for the Italian beef-cattle breeds.
There are 805
ranches enrolled in the Herd Book, for a total of 31.000 controlled head of
cattle.
Photo and Content Source: Agraria.org
About Chianina Cattle
