Aubrac
(most common name)
(transboundary/brand name)

(local/other name):
• La race Aubrac
• Laguiole
• Obrak (Russia)

The Aubrac started its first steps as a breed in the 1600s at the Benedictine Abbey of Aubrac in the mountainous Mezenc area at the south of the Massif Central (where the regions of Auvergne, Midi-Pyrenées and Languedoc-Roussillon converge). Controlled breeding of local cattle was practiced at the Abbey until it was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Government-promoted selective breeding between 1840–80 involved sires of:
• Durham (Shorthorn)
• Highland
• Devon
• Swiss Brown

• 1892 - Aubrac herdbook established
• 1914 - Aubrac breed society formed

The Aubrac gradually absorbed several closely related breeds and strains, including:
• Gévaudan (also, Lozeriènne) - a little-known strain
• Cevennes - closely related dark colored type
• Méznec - only partly absorbed

The Aubrac was formerly a dairy/draught breed, but is now oriented towards beef production (the double-muscling gene is present and monitored).

The Aubrac is described as:
• grey-white to very light brown (with a touch of yellow-orange — known as froment)
• white muzzleband
• outward growing, lyre-shaped horns with black tips

(French) froment = wheat

This page was last updated on: 2024-07-30

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