Red Steppe Cattle

a dairy breed of cattle, developed at the end of the 18th century on the territory of Zaporozh’e Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR by the reproductive crossing of local Red and Gray Steppe cattle with Red Ostfriesland and others. Until the end of the 19th century, the breed was raised in the Ukraine by inbreeding; in other regions it was crossbred with local cattle. From the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, cows of the Red Steppe breed were randomly crossbred with bulls of Dutch, Angeln, Wilstermarsh, Simmental, Shorthorn, and other breeds. Since the 1920’s a planned operation has been conducted to develop the breed by inbreeding, with the use of strict selection and breeding.

Red Steppe cattle are lean, solid, and strong. They are varying shades of red, from yellow-red to cherry-red. Many of these cattle have white markings on the head and trunk. Bulls on pedigree farms weigh 700–1,000 kg (the largest, up to 1,200 kg); cows weigh 420–540 kg (the largest, up to 700 kg). Cows on pedigree farms yield 4,000-4,500 kg of milk per year. The fat content of the milk is 3.6–3.8 percent. The dressed yield of fattened animals is 50–55 percent. Fertility is approximately 100 calves from 100 cows. The breed is principally distributed in the Ukrainian SSR, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol’ Krai, Rostov Oblast, and Omsk Oblast; it is also raised in the Moldavian SSR, Uzbek SSR, Kazakh SSR, and other regions.