Kranky Kids® home page
My Daily Cow®
Montbéliarde -cow- France

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

(local/other name):
• La race Montbéliarde
• Montbéliard (English)
(historical breed name):
French Dairy Simmental

The Montbéliarde originated in the upland (mountainous) environment of Franche Comté, a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It ranks second on the list of dairy breeds in France and is very widely distributed.

Presumably, Mennonite immigrants from Switzerland brought the now extinct Bernese cattle (the Simmental forerunner) in the 1700s and combined them with local breeds, notably:
Tourache - russet-coated (dairy/draught)
Fémeline - froment or wheat-colored (beef)

The Montbéliarde was first known as the ‘Alsatian’ breed.

1872 - Montbéliarde named after the principality of Montbéliarde
1889 - Montbéliarde officially recognized; herdbook established focusing on dairy
1901 - Montbéliarde breed societies established
1923 - formal milk-recording began
1950s - government proposal to merge Montbéliarde with Abondance and French Simmental rejected
late 1970s - introgression by Red Holstein (USA) permitted
1990 - proportion of Red Holstein genes at its highest (5.8%) and is decreasing slowly

SNP studies of the Montbéliarde show a close affinity with the Abondance, then Tarentaise and Vosges.

(French) froment = wheat

Montbéliarde -bull- France

This page was last updated on: 2024-06-05


You can also go to:

My Daily Cow® France and read about other French cattle breeds.

The Cow Wall® A-Z Cattle Breed Picture Reference to see other breeds of cattle in the world.