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Aubrac, a very ancient history... |
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The AUBRAC breed has existed for a long time. The first animals registered in the genealogic records of the breed go back to 1894. A reading of the records reveals that the selection for what would become the fabulous AUBRAC breed began much earlier than that year. In ancient writings it is mentioned that, in the 17th century, the monks in the Benedictine order, living in the monastery of the town of AUBRAC (in Auvergne), had already taken the first steps toward rationally exploited cattle-raising. |
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Once the great historic changes of the Revolution and the Napoleon Era had concluded, and after a necessary period of recovery and calm, the true work of improving the livestock was continued. In 1840 the Agricultural Society of Auvergne was founded, later replaced when the Herd Book for the AUBRAC breed was created, in 1893. |
Later on, in the Twentieth century, the numerous discoveries in biology (genetics, animal physiology and pathology, biochemistry, anatomy, embryology, etc.) would make possible, after World War II, very efficient selection methods thereby guaranteeing a clear improvement in the quality of these animals, in association with the mastery of other production factors (the physical surroundings and equipment especially, thanks to advances in computers, electronics, pedology, chemistry, mechanics, etc.). |
 Number of Head |
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At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the AUBRAC breed was widespread throughout the Southern and Eastern areas of the Massif Central and even in the Mediterranean region.
Number of head during the first half of the Twentieth century.
(Animals older than 6 months) |
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Year
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Number of Head |
| 1892* |
355,000 |
| 1902* |
320,000 |
| 1910* |
334,000 |
| 1932* |
354,000 |
| 1943* |
380,000 |
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Sources: |
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CROZES D*.,
1994. Une reine aux yeux noirs - Centennial Book of the Aubrac
Breed 1894 - 1994, Union Aubrac, Rodez, Pages 34 and 43.
QUITTET E*., 1946.
Les races bovines françaises en 1943, Ministry of Agriculture,
Paris, xx pp.
HAVY A. et al, 1994, in La station d'évaluation Aubrac
: Bilan et propositions pour l'avenir, 1995. BARLERIN M.,
ENSAT, Toulouse, Page 49. |
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Decrease in breed numbers 1945-1975 |
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At the
close of World War II, the AUBRAC breed was seriously affected by
the competition with tractors (that replaced the mythic AUBRAC oxen)
and by the disappearance of the milking activity of the "burons" (a
combination of traditional cheese manufacturing and the living quarters
of the cowherds, in the mountains).
| BURONS FOR MILKING AUBRAC COWS |
| Period
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Burons |
Cows milked |
LAGUIOLE cheese |
| End 19th century |
350
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2,000 t |
| 1901 |
294* |
14,000 |
900 t (and 47 t of butter) |
| 1940 |
212 |
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| 1950 |
141 |
8,000 |
220 t |
| 1964 |
57 |
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25 t |
| 1994 |
3 |
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Cows milked in summer pastures and cheese manufactured in the "burons"
294*: distributed as follows: 153 in Auvergne, 81 in Lozère and 60 in Cantal)
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Sources: |
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CROZES D., 1994. Une reine aux yeux noirs
- Centennial Book of the Aubrac Breed 1894 - 1994, Union Aubrac,
Rodez, Pages 38 and 43.
ANDRIEUX Etienne and PETIT Claude,
Mémoire d'Aubrac, edition Subervie, 1997, Page 20.
BLANCHON J., Transhumance bovine dans le Massif Central,
in La transhumance bovine, 1995. Ethnozootechnie, N° 55, Zootechnics
Society, Paris, Page 61. |
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This crisis period also affected other mixed
mountain breeds (Ferrandaise, Mézine). The new prevailing tendency
in this era was focused exclusively on productivity. The mixed
breeds survived with great difficulty in the face of the attractive
yields of the breeds that were specialized in the production
of milk. (Prim'Holstein) or for the production of meat (Limousin,
Charolais, and Blonde of Aquitaine after the sixties). Mixed
breeds were a thing of the past. |
The generalized practice of non-scientific mating, especially with Charolais bulls, was one of the main causes of the decrease in the numbers of the AUBRAC breed. In addition, life and work in the "burons" was increasingly less compatible with the new ambitions of society. Its profitability was increasingly less, especially due to the constant increase in the cost of labor:
"While in 1900, the sale of 100 Kg. of Laguiole cheese could pay the salary of a caretaker and his family, it was now necessary to sell a ton of cheese to pay the same annual salary". (Source: Centennial Book of the Aubrac Breed 1894-1994, Page 43.)
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| The period of 1945-1975 was ruinous for the Aubrac breed |
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Year
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Number of Head |
| 1958
a |
274,000 |
| 1964
a |
160,000 |
| 1969
d |
103,000 |
| 1972
b |
102,000 |
| 1973
c |
100,400 |
| 1975
b |
83,000 |
| 1979
d |
55,929 |
Cows and replacement females (2-year-old heifers and 18-month-old heifers):
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Sources: |
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a - VISSAC
B., 1969. Étude génétique de la race Aubrac (Engineering thesis), CNRZ Station Centrale de Génétique Animale, Jouy-en-Josas, pg. 16.
b -
DALMIERES André, 1980. La race bovine
Aubrac : quelle orientation pour les années 1980 ? (graduation
thesis), ENSA Rennes, pg. 53
c - SCEES,
1975 in Races bovines françaises, 3rd updated edition, QUITTET
E. and DENIS B., collection : Les
races d'animaux domestiques, 1979, pg. 6
d - General Agricultural Census of 1969 and 1979
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Period 1979-1999: a development without precedent. |
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RESURGENCE:
Unwilling to watch the inexorable disappearance of this breed,
and committed to no longer seeing it on the list of extinct
species, a group of people convinced of the specific advantages
and the superiority of the AUBRAC cow in many aspects, decided
to undertake the rediscovery of the "Black-eyed beauty". Their
dynamism and motivation resulted in the creation of the UNION
AUBRAC, in 1979.
Close to extinction in the seventies, the AUBRAC breed began to excite interest, thanks to the implementation of efficient measures applied starting in 1979. Since then this interest in the acquisition of AUBRAC breeding cattle has not ceased.
The breed has won over diverse regions of metropolitan France
(Corsica, Massif Central, the southeast and northeast of France)
as well as the French overseas departments and territories
(Guadalupe, Guyana). This development has also been felt outside
of French territory. More than 15 countries have already imported
the AUBRAC breed and continue to regularly acquire animals,
embryos or semen for insemination. (Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Russia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria, Great Britain, Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal, Canada, the United States, Morocco, Italy, Belgium, New Zealand, etc.).
The cattle association UNION AUBRAC managed to reach its ambitious goal of repositioning the AUBRAC breed at the height of its qualities. This has been achieved by uniting all the AUBRAC breeders and building with them a coherent selection policy.
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ACTIVITIES: Conservation,
reactivation, improvement
| Animals registered and controlled by the UNION AUBRAC, 1976
- 1991
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| Year
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Member breeders |
Controlled cows |
| 1976 |
174
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2,500 |
| 1981 |
200 |
4,000 |
| 1986 |
310 |
12,585 |
| 1991 |
422 |
19,217 |
ACTIVITIES:
Development, spread
| Animals registered and controlled by the UNION AUBRAC, 1993
- 2007 |
| Year
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Member breeders |
Controlled cows |
| 1993 |
464 |
22,163 |
| 1995 |
568 |
26,965 |
| 1996 |
591 |
28,660 |
| 1999 |
590 |
31,856 |
| 2002 |
550 |
35,774 |
| 2007 |
590 |
37,518 |
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