🇮🇷 The cattle breeds of Iran

Cattle hold a middle rank in Iran's livestock, behind the sheep and goats that lead the country's flocks and herds. They graze on semi-dry upland pasture, in the mountains and along the edges of the great central deserts, in a land too dry for easy farming. Meat from all livestock is processed at home and output has been rising.

• Cattle rank third among Iran's livestock, after sheep and goats
• Just 3% of the land serves as grazing and fodder ground
• Livestock output reached 11.3 million tonnes in 2008
• Meat processing capacity: 400,000 tonnes across 140 units (2009)
• Average meat consumption was 26 kg per person in 2008

Cattle in Iran

Livestock matters greatly in Iran, yet cattle are not its leading animals: sheep come first, goats second, and cattle third, ahead of donkeys, mules, water buffalo and horses. The land itself sets the limits. Rainfall is sparse, deserts and bare mountains cover much of the country, and only a small slice of ground is left for grazing and fodder. Herds therefore feed on semi-dry upland pasture and along the fringes of the central dashts, the great desert basins. Farms are small, often under ten hectares, and many barely pay, which has pushed rural families towards the cities. Farming as a whole still supplies roughly a fifth of the economy and of the country's jobs.

Regions and communities

The west and northwest hold the country's most fertile soil, so field crops and the fodder that supports stock are easiest to grow there. Central Iran is another matter: deserts, salt flats known as kavirs and bare rock leave much of it unfit for farming, and herds graze on the ground fringing these dashts rather than within them. Mountain land elsewhere carries semi-dry pasture. Each region thus plays its part, from fertile western fields to desert-edge grazing.

Milk, butter and beef

Meat leads. Output from all livestock rose year on year, reaching 11.3 million tonnes in 2008, against 10.6 million in 2007 and 9.9 million in 2006. Processing capacity stood at 400,000 tonnes across 140 units in 2009, and each Iranian ate about 26 kg of meat in 2008. Sheep and goats head the national livestock list, so cattle contribute to these totals alongside the rest rather than dominating them.

Today

Livestock keeping sits inside a farming sector that supplies about a fifth of both output and jobs, yet struggles with dry ground, dated methods and holdings too small to pay. Flocks and herds have grown, with livestock products up from 9.9 million tonnes in 2006 to 11.3 million in 2008. Poultry has advanced fastest, with the whole supply chain handled at home. Cattle remain third in line, sharing the mountain and desert-edge pastures.