Hey, I saw your post about Holstein cows and your knowledge about cows seems enciclopedical for someone who doesn't know shit about them like me. I was kind of wondering if you have an opinion about nelore cows. They are the most popular breed in my country, and I wanted to know more about them👉🏻👈🏻
YOU 🫵 are going to BRAZIL 🇧🇷
The Nelore is an absolutely outstanding cow. Able to withstand extreme heat, thick-skinned and insect resistant, intelligent yet easy to handle, it's hard to find a better beef breed for a humid, tropical environment.
Naturally, it's become popular all across South America, but the Nelore is the pride and joy of Brazil. Bred from a breed of zebuine cattle called the Ongole, the quality of the Nelore is what makes Brazil SUCH a powerhouse in meat production, globally. In fact, they've been the NUMBER ONE exporter of beef several years in a row!
Bask in the shape of this beautiful woman.
You'll probably first be drawn to the elegant dewlap and folds. This is how the cow manages to be so tolerant of high heat; lots of skin and lots of pores makes for more surface area to cool down quickly! Even her coloration helps-- white fur reflects the sun, but black skin underneath protects her from the rays that aren't.
If you're a bit more discerning, you might also be noticing her sculpted muscles, long legs, and humble udder. Nelore are bred to be healthy and athletic above all. They can survive just fine in a pasture year-round, very rarely needing medical care-- especially not when it comes to the care of their calves!
The Texas Longhorn (a breed which was developed in feral conditions) has an unassisted calving rate of 86%. The Nelore is 95%!
Lastly... do you see those bulges on the hump and on the rump? Those make for wonderful cuts of beef; Cupim and Picanha. Cupim is unique to Brazilian cuisine, but Picanha is sometimes called sirloin cap or rump cap in English.
I also really like the fact that sometimes they have gray bag markings under their eyes, so they look kinda like tired, wrinkly grandmas.
This is Yzma, to me.
As even better news, there's been a ton of progress in terms of lessening the ecological impact of cattle grazing since Lula unseated the weird fascist whose face I don't respect. Brazil produces a downright staggering amount of beef (only slightly less than the entire USA!) on a decreasing amount of land, swapping over to a HIGHLY efficient form of sustainable farming called ICLF, or Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forestry.
It's really inspiring, if you'd like to read about people doing good things in these troubled times.
If I have any beef with Nelores, it's simply that I do also wish for there to be more room for heritage breeds like the Indu-Brasil... but also, it's hard to condemn actual efficiency and real results, unlike the horror show that's going on with Holsteins. Nelores are a fantastic breed of wonderful, happy animals with very few problems. I must love them.
...just please appreciate this droopy thing too. Bloodhound ass Snoopy cow. my heart would break if we lost the Indu-Brasil </3
