Mirandesa
Conservation status
Country of originPortugal
StandardDireção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (in Portuguese)
Useformerly draught,[3]: 20  now meat
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    average 1024 kg[4]: 246 
  • Female:
    average 630 kg[4]: 246 
Height
  • Male:
    average 140 cm[4]: 246 
  • Female:
    average 130 cm[4]: 246 
Coatdark reddish-brown, darker at the extremities
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus

The Mirandesa is a Portuguese breed of beef cattle. It originates in – and is named for – the Terra de Miranda, the area of north-eastern Portugal where Mirandese is spoken, particularly the municipality of Miranda do Douro. It was formerly used as a draught animal, and was distributed throughout almost all of the country.[3]: 20 [4]: 246  It is now reared for beef; the meat may be marketed as Denominação de Origem Controlada ('Protected Designation of Origin').[4]: 246 [5]

History

The Mirandesa is a traditional breed of draught cattle. It originates in – and is named for – the Terra de Miranda, the area of north-eastern Portugal where Mirandese is spoken, particularly the municipality of Miranda do Douro in the traditional district of Bragança in the Norte region.[4]: 246 

Various sub-types were identified within the breed, among them that of Bragança, the Beirao of Beira, the Mirandes Extremenho or Ratinho Serrano, and the Jarmelo.[6]: 857 [7] This last was established as a separate breed in 2007, with the name Jarmelista.[4]: 211 

A herd-book for the Mirandesa was established in 1959, the first in the country.[4]: 246 [2] Numbers in the 1960s and 1970s were some 150000–200000 head, and the breed was distributed throughout most of Portugal, with the exception only of the former province of Minho in the north-west (now consisting of the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo) and the Algarve region in the south.[3]: 20 [4]: 246  In the later twentieth century the combined effects of the arrival in Portugal of more productive imported cattle and the mechanisation of agriculture, with its consequent reduction in demand for draught oxen, brought about a rapid fall in numbers; by the early 1990s the remaining stock was again mostly in the Terra de Miranda.[7]

In 2007 the conservation status of the breed was listed by the FAO as 'not at risk'.[1]: 144  In 2020 a population of 5535 head – 5230 cows and 305 bulls – was reported to DAD-IS, which in 2023 listed the conservation status of the breed as 'at risk/vulnerable'.[2]

The larger Marinhoa cattle of the district of Aveiro derive principally from the Mirandesa, possibly with some intromission from Minhota stock.[4]: 239 

Characteristics

The Mirandesa is a dark red-brown in colour, with some darkening towards the extremities; cows are more variable in shade than bulls. Average weights are 1024 kg for bulls and 630 kg for cows; average heights at the withers are 140 cm and 130 cm respectively.[4]: 246 

Like the Arouquesa, the Mirandesa is related to the five Spanish breeds that make up the Morena Galega or Morenas del Noroeste group – the Cachena, the Caldelana or Caldelá, the Frieiresa, the Limiana or Limiá, and the Vianesa.[4]: 251 

Use

The Mirandesa was traditionally used as a draught animal. It was the principal cattle breed of Portugal and was distributed in large numbers throughout most of the country[3]: 20 [4]: 246 

It is now reared for beef; the meat may be marketed as Denominação de Origem Controlada ('Protected Designation of Origin').[4]: 246 [5]

References

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  1. 1 2 Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Breed data sheet: Mirandesa / Portugal (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Luís Telo da Gama et al. (June 2004). Recursos Genéticos Animais Em Portugal (in Portuguese). Vale de Santarém: Relatório Nacional. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 68. Annex to: Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 10 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  5. 1 2 Carne Mirandesa, dated 14 March 2019. Bruxelles/Brussel: Directorate-General of Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission. Accessed March 2023.
  6. ↑ Ezio Marchi, Ettore Mascheroni (1925). Zootecnia speciale: 1, Equini e bovini (in Italian). Nuova Enciclopedia Agraria Italiana, volume 6, part I. Torino: Unione tipografico-editrice.
  7. 1 2 Mirandesa: Raça Autóctone (in Portuguese). Lisboa: Direção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária. Accessed March 2023.
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