Salers cattle have always been renowned for their fertility, hardiness and ease of calving, but few realise the intelligence and docility of the breed.

In their native homeland of France, many farmers not only rely on the Salers to produce commercial females and top quality prime beef, but also for the high components contained in the milk which enable speciality cheeses to be made.

More impressive, however, is the fact that the cheese is produced from cows' milk which has been taken from Salers often milked out in fields at 4000ft above sea-level.

In fact, such is the quietness and ease of management of the breed that individual animals - often from a herd of 50-60 cows - will walk out to a mobile parlour for four or five cows, to be milked, when called by their name.

This is because French Salers breeders spend so much time with their cattle, which calve inside during the winter months and as a result, individual calves, that carry the same name as their dams, are intelligent enough to pick up their own names at a week old!

Consequently, farmers milking cows in the field, are also able to call out the calf by name, which will also walk forward to its mother and is allowed to suckle for a few seconds to trigger milk letdown. The calf is then whisked to the front of the cow, milk clusters are attached, the cow is milked, with the calf then allowed to finish off the dregs on removal of the clusters.

As it is, such activity enables many cheese-making Salers cattle producers an average 3000litres per cow with minimal concentrates, with the added bonus being that the cow suckles her calf.

Research conducted in France from 4864 lactations, also found Salers to have an average daily milk production of 11.1 litres over a 274 day lactation (more than 3000 litres). By comparison, this same trial revealed Charolais at 5.7 and Limousins at 4.9 litres per day.

Pronounced 'Sa-Lair', the breed originates in the Southern half of the Massif Central in the Auvergne region of France. This isolated, mountainous area which ranges from 2000 to 6000ft and is noted for its rough, rocky terrain and harsh, damp climate is characterised by poor soil and a wide range of temperatures throughout the summer and long winter.

As the topography allowed for little cereal grain production, Salers were forced to become foragers with bred-in range-ability to utilise, almost entirely, native grasses in summer and hay in winter.

One of the oldest breeds in the world, dating back 7-10,000 years - the traditional management practice in the region was to join the cows to the bulls for a 45-day period in the spring and then walk the herds up to 100 kilometres into the surrounding mountains, where the herds were grazed on communal pastures for the summer without any bulls.

Needless to say, having roamed the mountains for centuries and used as draught animals, they developed strong legs and good feet with black hooves. Consequently, cattle can still travel long distances over rough ground without developing foot problems.

In France today, only about 10% of the Salers herds are still milked to produce Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) cheese such as the Cantal and the Salers with the remainder being used for beef production.

Typically horned and dark mahogany red in colour, a growing number are however, now polled and black. The availability of polled genetics in addition to both red and black, gives the breed the advantage of a flexible breeding programmne which combined with a brown skin and membrane reduces the occurance of eye or udder problems.

And, being one of the oldest and genetically most pure of the European breeds, Salers produce a positive effect on the predictability in crossbreeding programmes in a consistent increase in hybrid vigour.

At birth, Salers calves are typically long and slender and have small heads, which contributes to their calving ease.

Birth weights of Salers-sired calves are usually between 30 and 40kg and vary with age, size and breed of the dam.

Low birth weights give the calf a good start, which enhances vigour and cuts calf mortality.

Salers calves are also noted for their ability to get up and suckle, while the dams make vigilant mothers, often caring for other calves in the group as well as their own.

And, having the largest well shaped pelvic area of the major beef breeds means few if any calving problems, a shorter than average gestation period.