Salers

Salers are named for a town in the Cantal, in the volcanic uplands of south-central France, where they were kept for milk, meat and draft on steep ground at altitude. They are dark mahogany red, usually horned, with a long curly coat.

What they are used for in North America is calving ease and milk. Salers have among the lowest calving difficulty rates recorded for a continental breed, which is unusual for cattle of their size, and the cows milk well enough to be sought as a maternal cross.

They also have hard black hooves and a reputation for soundness on rough country.

The trade is temperament and colour. Salers carried a reputation for being difficult to handle, which selection has improved but not erased, and their dark red does not fit the black-hided programmes that dominate the American feeder market.