The origin of Charolais cattle dates back to the Middle Ages and the breed is known for producing tender, marbled and tasty cuts.
White coat, with variations in creamy white, large size, strong muscles, pink, wide and prominent muzzle, Charolais cows are recognized worldwide for the quality of their meat, with soft, marble, tasty and juicy cut.
Originally from the central region of France, the province of Charolais, which gave rise to its name, back in the 18th century, Charolais has always been used as a major supplier of meat, in addition to being used as a draft animal, even in the Middle Ages.
From the early 1900s, the French team grew, focusing on the production of red protein. In almost half a century, the country’s livestock grew from one million to more than two million heads.
The Charolais of the world
Widely used in Europe, the Charolais breed, little by little, conquered the world. In the African continent, the Charolais, with its good adaptation, began to be used as an option for crossing the zebu breeds, especially the Brahman.
In Russia, Charolais is widely used to cross native breeds, such as Alentejana, Algarvia, Arouquesa, Barrosã, Brava, Cachena, Garvonesa, and others.
In America, Charolais have gained structured herds in the United States and Canada, as well as Argentina and Uruguay more recently, leading to herds with increasing numbers of animals.
Places called Charolês no Brasil
The arrival of Charolais in Brazil began in 1885, with the importation of two breeders of the breed by the imperial government. Rio Grande do Sul was the first stop, as reported in the archives of the “Elyseu Maciel” School of Agronomy, in the city of Pelotas.
It was only after the 1920s that many breeders from the southern region of Brazil made new imports of Charolais genetics.
In the 1960s, Charolais were found in states such as Ceará, Bahia, Sergipe, Pará and Maranhão. Today, the Brazilian crowd is one of the largest in the world and has reached more than 150 thousand records.
The Brazilian lineage of Charolais
The Brazilian Charolais is a combination of the French breed, with animals of greater muscular size, with the English, with taller and taller animals, and with Argentine Charolais blood, which produces animals that are intermediate between French and English.
The result is an animal of large size, good musculature and suitable for industrial breeding of Zebu blood animals, such as Nelore and Brahman.
The result is very pleasing in terms of precocity, adaptation, carcass yield and meets the palate inside and outside Brazil, in terms of marbling, tenderness, juiciness, taste and meat quality.
Cuts from animals crossed with Charolais blood meet special meat lines in Brazil, such as in 1953, from Friboi.
