Gelbvieh Characteristics:
Gelbvieh are the performance + maternal European beef breed. Gelbvieh have a calm and quiet temperament which makes them easy to work with. Gelbvieh females have high milking capacity which they put into their calves. Gelbvieh calves are moderately sized at birth but grow quickly with remarkable daily weight gains and large eye muscle areas. Gelbvieh also produce impressive show winning stock. that will bring a smile to your face. Gelbvieh cattle are used in many cross-breeding programs around the world for this reason and Gelbvieh are an exceptional cross over British breeds and Tropical Breeds alike. Below are some other famous traits of Gelbvieh cattle.
Quiet Temperament:
Gelbvieh have a quiet and inquisitive nature and displaying a docile temperament. Gelbvieh pass this quality on to their offspring. A quiet nature is being demanded by producers and processors and has its roots is required in workplace safety, bruising and the meat quality areas. Gelbvieh's excellent temperament makes them ideal for farmers who run a small number of cattle or in the small farm situation. Large studs herds are no different when it comes to temperament requirements and demand a calm temperament making Gelbvieh a preferred choice. Gelbvieh are equal to, or more docile than Limousin but equal in other respects. all other European breeds, whilst excelling in other major traits, making them a preferred choice in crossbreeding programs.
Puberty:
Gelbvieh have the earliest puberty of any beef breed, so under normal conditions, (only dairy breed Jersey is earlier), so in normal cattle country, Gelbvieh can be joined at 13 months to calve at 22 months - instead of at 24 to 30 months like some of the other larger breeds with other breeds - or even 30 months with more terminal breeds like Charolais. This gives the first calf Gelbvieh heifer 15 months before it has to calve again as a 3 year old. This extra 3 months provides an extremely valuable management advantage for the sensitive first calf heifer, which has to suckle its calf and return to service for its next pregnancy, while still growing.
Maternal:
Nearly all European breeds are used as terminal sires. Gelbvieh can not only be used as terminal sires but their heifer progeny can also be retained most certainly be kept as breeding females. as well. Their puberty, fertility and milk production is superiority over other European cross females. This has been established overseas at extensive cross breeding trials such as at Clay Centre, Nebraska, USA. with massive crossbreeding trials.
Gelbvieh = Growth + Milk + Muscle.
For more Information contact the Australian Gelbvieh Association, email:
Carcases:
From studies carried out at the Clay Centre, Nebraska USA. Gelbvieh had the largest ribeye muscle area per 100kg of all breeds. Hence they have high cutout yields.
Balancer Cattle for Temperate Australia - What is a Balancer?
Gelbvieh cattle crossbred over britsh breeds such as Hereford, Murray Grey and Angus produce what’s called a 'Balancer'. Balancer's have the advantages of high growth and muscle with added fat cover and easy calving, making Balancer cattle very popular with butcher's and ideal for carcase competitons.
Balancer cattle are some of the most impressive commercial cattle you could ever lay your eyes on and equally ideal for the feedlot or grass finishing.
Balancer cattle enjoy the benefits of hybrid vigour, extra saleable meat yield with rapid growth combined with an even fat cover and easy calving. Making Balancer cattle very popular with butcher's and ideal for carcas competitons. Balancer cattle are a very popular cross in America and Canada (preferred instead of Limousin and other European breeds, due to their excellent temperament, but still having added meat yields) and producers are still receiving a Black cattle premium at the saleyards & feedlots.
For more information on Balancer cattle contact the Australian Gelbvieh Association. To read specific articles about Balancer cattle visit the American Balancer Reference Edition Website. CLICK HERE
Meat Quality:
Gelbvieh are a lean breed but given their fast growth rate and their marketability as yearlings, they are a potential source of high quality tender young beef. Gelbvieh can produce Champion carcases when crossed with British breeds. Gelbvieh bulls are and excellent choice to cross with Angus females to produce prime quality carcases. for producing carcase winning steers.
Fertility:
Gelbvieh had the largest testicles of all breeds in the Clay Centre research and since testicular size is related to the fertility of their daughters, this probably explains why the females are most fertile and even precocious. Gelbvieh bulls taken to AI centres for semen collection have had the most virile semen counts and quality seen of any breed., which is just what the beef business needs. They should not be co-joined with a different breed of bull if you want equal numbers of calves. An Inverell breeder tells the story of running a Gelbvieh and a proven Hereford bull with 60 Hereford cows; 23 calves dropped in the first 10 days of calving - 21 of them were Gelbvieh.
Milking Ability:
Originally Gelbvieh where bred for milk production as well as beef, they have exceptional udders and milking ability - like 1000 litres more than Hereford or Angus per lactation.
Weaning Weight:
Gelbvieh produced the highest weaning weight per cow exposed to breeding at Clay Centre - which reflects their good performance in fertility, milk and growth. Weaning weights are usually more than 200kg at 7 months.
Yearling Weight:
Usually better than 300kg, which explains why females can be joined at 12 months - and why Gelbvieh cross-breds can be marketed as yearlings.
Heat Tolerance and Tick Resistance:
The South African Gelbvieh Association has reported a distinct tolerance to both heat and ticks and there have been confirmatory reports from Queensland. Gelbvieh bulls stand in the sun quite contentedly while British and most other European breeds seek the shade. When seed ticks bite Gelbvieh, the blood flow to the bite region is constricted so that the ticks are isolated and starve. These very important features of Gelbvieh will be further researched in Queensland next summer.
Conclusion:
Gelbvieh have a quiet calm temperament, are moderately framed with excellent growth and carcase traits coupled with longevity. Gelbvieh are easy fleshing, and produced an abundance of milk (the females have great udders and exceptional maternal traits).
It can be concluded from the Clay Centre research that Gelbvieh is the one single cattle breed which incorporates more of the commercially important traits in their genotype than any other breed.
This explains why the Gelbvieh breed has grown so fast in the USA and why 70% of the cattle ranchers around Clay Centre use Gelbvieh, either as purebreds or for crossing. It also explains why Gelbvieh is included in most of the new composite breeds being developed in North America.
The main reason why people crossbreed is to add or combine desired characteristics or reduce or eliminate undesirable ones. A phenomenon called hybrid vigour also occurs and is seen as production increases above the expected production mean of individual parents.
We are lucky that in the beef cattle world this increase occurs in most characters associated with efficient and economical beef production such as fertility, growth rate and carcass characteristics.
All breeds when crossed with others will create some measure of hybrid vigour showing as increased production. Here is why commercial cattlemen should consider the Gelbvieh breed.
"Gelbvieh are the best kept secret in the Australian Beef Industry."
For more Information contact the Australian Gelbvieh Association, email: