Limousin Cattle 

The Limousin is a very old breed; it may have originated anywhere from 16000 to 13000 years ago as dated by cave drawings in the French Lascaux Cave. It was developed in the central Marche and Limousin regions of southern France. The area is relatively isolated and the cattle breed was allowed to grow with little to no external influences. Due to its environment, the Limousin attained superlative hardiness and adaptability. Limousin cattle form part of the European Continental cattle breeds. These breeds of cattle are sometimes considered exotics in the United States, as their introduction to North America was much later than most British breeds. The Limousin entered the American continent initially in Canada in 1968.  The first Limousin bull imported into the US in 1971 was named Kansas Colonel. Previously Limousin genetics were attained using imported semen, mostly from Canada’s Prince Pompadour. The North American Limousin Foundation, founded in 1968 is presently the largest Limousin association in the world.

Limousin and Marche regions of France

 

 

The French farmers and landowners took enormous pride in these animals and could often set their own price if needing to sell or trade them. The female Limousin was able to calve at any time of the year and could be bred as early as 3 years. This made them a dependable source of income for the owners.

 

 

In the 18th and 19th centuries, there were attempts to crossbreed Limousin cattle in an attempt to create bigger animals. One of these attempts was in 1840 when farmers used Agenaise oxen in the breeding process. Although the calves did turn out to have more height and stronger hindquarters, the results were far from positive. These animals needed more food and could not gain weight as efficiently as the original Limousin breed.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Limousin breeders began to finally rethink the value of the moderate size of this cattle breed. Now their less overwhelming size and powerful muscles are recognized as an asset and not a liability. New crossbreeding efforts were put into place that would maintain the size, efficient metabolism and rugged adaptability of these animals. This improved the breed and created and even more efficient Limousin cattle that proved ideal for the work of meat production. The Black Limousin cattle are known for their black coloring. This color is the result of both planned and unplanned breeding efforts and spans several centuries. There are many breeds of cattle that could have contributed the gene for black coloring including the Angus and the Holstein.

    

The Black Limousin Cattle Today

The American cattle ranchers discovered that the Limousin breed was reliable, hardy, and impressively rugged under withering temperature extremes. It was only natural that efforts would be put into place to match the best genetic traits of the Limousin cattle with other animals that had many of these same features.

One of the most popular pairings is that of Limousin with Angus, which results in superior offspring with outstanding traits. These animals are proving to be sturdy, healthy, and adaptable as well as being heavy meat producers. There is more meat on these animals thanks to the Limousin influence. However, the quality marbling that is seen in the meat is a direct contribution from the Angus genetic line. Today, many of the Black Limousin cattle can link their background to an Angus herd. It should be noted that any pure Limousin cattle can have the black hide color instead of the red-gold. With so many crossbreeding attempts in these animals’ backgrounds, the hide coloring can be influenced by a number of recent, or distant, ancestors.