Triple-purpose breeds
Milk, meat and work from one animal: Kankrej, Pinzgauer and many village breeds.
Triple-purpose cattle give milk, meat and work from the same animal. This is the oldest pattern of all, and it still describes most village cattle in the world. A cow is milked for the household, a bullock pulls the plough or cart, and calves, hides, horns and dung all have their uses. Some breeds were shaped around the triple role: the Kankrej of Gujarat, the Pinzgauer of the Austrian Alps and the grey Podolic cattle of Italy among them. Many local and non-descript cattle across Africa and Asia do the same.
The household animal
On a small mixed farm a single breed has to cover everything. The cow must milk enough to feed the family, calve every year or so, and be hardy enough to live on what the farm grows. The bullocks must be strong enough to plough. Dung is fuel, plaster and fertiliser. At the end, hide and horn are used. This is the economy that most cattle lived in until the twentieth century, and many still do in India, Ethiopia, the Sahel and Southeast Asia.
Kankrej and the Indian triple role
The Kankrej of the Banaskantha and Kutch country of Gujarat is often given as the model of a breed that does several jobs. The cows milk well, the bullocks are large, fast and powerful, and the breed is known for its lyre-shaped horns and an easy, swinging gait. Kankrej cattle went to Brazil, where they founded the Guzerá breed, and to the United States, where they helped form the Brahman. Many other Indian breeds, from Ongole to Hariana, were used in the same full way.
Alpine and Podolic examples
In Europe, breeds of the Alps and the south kept the triple role longest. The chestnut-and-white Pinzgauer of Salzburg was milked, fattened and worked on steep mountain farms. The Podolic cattle of southern Italy and the Balkans were worked in the fields and gave milk for cheeses such as caciocavallo podolico, as well as meat. As farm machines spread, these breeds dropped the draught role and turned toward beef or milk, and several are now rare.
Worth knowing
- Kankrej: Large Gujarati zebu with lyre horns, for milk and powerful bullocks
- Pinzgauer: Chestnut-and-white Austrian mountain breed
- Podolica: Grey cattle of southern Italy, worked, milked and fattened
- Ongole: Andhra breed used for work, milk and breeding
- Tyrolean Grey: Grey Alpine breed of the Tyrol
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Triple-purpose on EveryCow
The breeds written up so far, best known first.
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 morePinzgauer
Chestnut Austrian cattle with a broad white stripe along the back and bellyTaurine · Triple-purpose
🇭🇷 Croatia and 5 moreBuša
A little mountain cow of the Balkans with short horns, kept for milk, meat and workTaurine · Triple-purpose · Disease-resistant
🇵🇹 PortugalRamo GrandeRaça Bovina Ramo Grande
A large red-brown cattle breed from Terceira in the Azores, once used for work and milkTaurine · Triple-purpose · Thrifty foragers
🇦🇹 AustriaCarinthian BlondviehKärntner Blondvieh
An old triple-purpose breed from Carinthia in Austria, white or light yellowTaurine · Triple-purpose
🇫🇷 FranceLourdaiseLordés
A rare white Pyrenean breed from near Lourdes, once milk, meat and draught in oneTaurine · Beef
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Buša: P.Cikovac, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pinzgauer: Wald1siedel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ramo Grande: Carlos Luis M C da Cruz, Public domain, source
- Carinthian Blondvieh: Mefusbren69, Public domain, source
- Lourdaise: Darreenvt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source