The Maremmana is a breed of cattle reared in the Maremma, a former marshland region in southern Tuscany and northern Lazio in central Italy. It is raised principally in the provinces of Grosseto, Rome and Viterbo.
The Chianina is an Italian breed of large white cattle. It was formerly principally a draught breed; it is now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. The bistecca alla fiorentina is produced from its meat.
The Piedmontese is a breed of domestic cattle that originated in the region of Piedmont, in north-west Italy. The calves are born fawn coloured, and turn grey-white as they mature. Piedmontese cattle carry a unique gene mutation identified as an inactive myostatin allele that causes hypertrophic muscle growth, or double muscling. Purebred Piedmontese cattle are homozygous, meaning they have two identical alleles present for this unique gene. They have garnered attention from breeders of beef cattle in other parts of the world, including North and South America. A small group of select Piedmontese bulls and cows were imported into Canada in the late 1970s, and into the United States in the early 1980s, and were used as the foundation breeding stock to develop a new breed of beef cattle known as North American Piedmontese cattle.
The Agerolese is a breed of dairy cattle from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. It derives from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Italian Holstein-Friesian, Bruna Italiana and Jersey cattle. It is one of the sixteen minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognised and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture.
The Burlina is a breed of cattle from the mountainous areas of the Veneto region of north-east Italy. It is distributed mainly in the provinces of Treviso, Verona and Vicenza. It is a dual-purpose breed, but is raised principally for milk production. It has been suggested that it may be related to the similar Bretonne Pie Noir breed of small pied dairy cattle in Brittany.
The Garganica is a breed of domestic goat which originated on the Gargano promontory in the Puglia region of southern Italy. From there it has spread to other parts of Puglia and to neighbouring regions.
The Podolica is a breed of domestic cattle from southern Italy. It belongs to the Podolic group of grey cattle. It is raised in the regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Puglia. It was formerly distributed throughout most of mainland Italy and as far as Istria, now part of Croatia, and where it is now regarded as a separate breed, the Istrian or Boškarin. The Podolica was in the past bred principally as a draught animal; with the mechanisation of agriculture following the Second World War demand for draught oxen disappeared, and the Podolica is now raised for meat and, to a lesser extent, for milk.
The Brentegana is an Italian breed of sheep from the provinces of Trento and Verona in northern Italy. The name derives from that of the comune of Brentonico, the area where the breed is thought to have originated. Two distinct types are known: the Brentegana Scelta or Brentegana Trentina, a large heavy meat/wool type; and the Brentegana Comune, a medium-sized type more suitable for milk production. It is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders.
The Rendena is a breed of cattle from the Trentino, in north-eastern Italy, now raised principally in the provinces of Padova, Trento, Verona and Vicenza. It is particularly suited to transhumant management; almost all the stock in the Trentino spends the summer months on the mountain pastures of the Val Rendena, and more than half of that in the Veneto summers on the Altopiano di Asiago.
The Delle Langhe, also called Pecora delle Langhe or Langarola, is a breed of domestic sheep indigenous to Piedmont, in north-western Italy. It is a rough-woolled breed of southern Mediterranean type, and originates from the mountainous area of the Alta Langa, where the Apennines meet the Alps, in the province of Cuneo. It is raised mainly in the Langhe, but is found in several other regions of Italy including Abruzzo, Basilicata, Emilia–Romagna, Liguria and Tuscany.
The Valdostana is an Italian breed of domestic goat from the autonomous region of Valle d'Aosta in north-western Italy, from which it takes its name. It is characterised by large sabre-shaped horns, which it uses in combat in the traditional local sport of goat-fighting.
The Cilentana Fulva is an indigenous breed of domestic goat from the province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It takes its name from the geographical region of the Cilento, much of which is today within the Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni, and is raised in that area, in the Monti Picentini, and throughout the province of Salerno. It is one of three indigenous goat breeds in the Cilento, the others being the Cilentana Grigia and the Cilentana Nera. The Cilentana Fulva is found on lower ground and richer pasture than the Cilentana Nera, and is raised mainly for milk. It appears to derive from inter-breeding of local goats with the Maltese and particularly the Derivata di Siria, with which it shares many characteristics.
The Cilentana Grigia is an indigenous breed of domestic goat from the province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It takes its name from the geographical region of the Cilento, much of which is today within the Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni, and is raised mainly in that area, but also in the Monti Alburni and the Monti Picentini. It is one of three indigenous goat breeds in the Cilento, the others being the Cilentana Fulva and the Cilentana Nera. The Cilentana Grigia is found on lower ground and richer pasture than the Cilentana Nera, and is raised mainly for milk. The origins of the breed are obscure; it shows the influence of the Maltese and Garganica breeds, and similarities to other Italian grey breeds such as the Ciociara Grigia of Lazio and the Argentata dell'Etna from Sicily.
The Nera Verzasca, also known as the Nera di Verzasca or Verzaschese, is an indigenous breed of black domestic goat from the Valle Verzasca, in the canton of Ticino in southern Switzerland, from which it takes its name. It is raised in that area and in the provinces of Como, Varese and Verbano Cusio Ossola in northern Lombardy, in the north of Italy.
The Valdostana Castana is an Italian breed of cattle from Valle d'Aosta region in north-western Italy. It is one of three regional breeds in the area, the others being the Valdostana Pezzata Nera and the Valdostana Pezzata Rossa. The Valdostana Castana ranges in colour from chestnut-brown to black. It derives from cross-breeding of imported Hérens stock with the local Pezzata Nera (black-pied) cattle. While the Valdostana Castana is raised both for meat and for milk, its principal characteristic is its ability in the Bataille de Reines, the annual cow-fighting contests held in the region. Partly due to its combative nature, it is not suited to intensive farming, and management is normally transhumant: the cattle are stabled only in winter, and spend the summer months on the mountain pastures of the Alps.
The Valdostana Pezzata Rossa is an Italian breed of cattle from Valle d'Aosta region in north-western Italy. It is red-pied, usually with white legs, stomach and face. It is one of three regional breeds in the area, the others being the Valdostana Castana and the Valdostana Pezzata Nera. Like them, it derives from inter-breeding of various local breeds and types of cattle. The most important of these were Swiss Simmental cattle, which came into the Valle d'Aosta over the Great St. Bernard Pass. The Valdostana Pezzata Rossa is a dual-purpose breed, raised mainly for milk, but also for meat. Management is normally transhumant: the cattle are stabled only in winter, and spend the summer months on the mountain pastures of the Alps.
The Fribourgeoise or Freiburger was a Swiss breed of cattle from the Canton of Fribourg in western Switzerland. From about 1966 it was systematically cross-bred with imported Holstein stock. It became effectively extinct with the death of the last pure-bred bull in 1973, and was absorbed into the Swiss Holstein.
The Swiss Holstein is the Swiss variant of the international Holstein-Friesian breed of dairy cattle. It results from systematic cross-breeding, through artificial insemination between 1966 and 1973, of the traditional dual-purpose black-pied Fribourgeoise from the Canton of Fribourg in western Switzerland with Canadian Holstein stock.
