Limousin

Limousin cattle come from the Limousin region of west-central France, a place with thin soil and a hard climate, and they were draft animals there long before they were beef.

What they are known for now is yield. A Limousin carcass returns a high proportion of saleable meat for its weight, with a large ribeye and little external fat, which is why they are used as terminal sires on herds selling into a yield grid.

They are moderate at birth and heavier at weaning, so they add growth without the calving risk of a larger continental breed.

The trade is two things. They marble less than a British breed, so they suit yield-based marketing rather than quality-based. And the breed carried a reputation for flighty temperament that breeders have spent decades selecting against, successfully enough that it is now a question about the individual animal and its herd rather than about the breed.