About Fleckvieh

As far as we understand it, the Fleckvieh breed came into being in the early 1800’s when a local German/Austrian dual purpose breed that was being used for milk, meat and draught, began to be crossed with a breed imported from the Simme Valley of Switzerland that were famous for their milk production and draught capacity but were late maturing with little depth and coarse bone. By the early 1900’s after 100 years of breeding, a breed description for the Fleckviehs had been developed and the herd book was closed whilst all the cattle on the register were checked against the breed standards. Those that complied were registered and those that did not meet the criteria were taken off the register. A century of selective breeding had resulted in a “middle of the road type animal” with excellent muscling, good milk production and draught performance.

Meanwhile, German peoples were immigrating to South West Africa and in the 1890’s they began importing their local cattle, the Fleckvieh, into South Africa. But to confuse matters they called the breed Simmentalers. They began putting slightly different selection criteria on the cattle as they were now in the southern hemisphere in a hotter, drier climate where there was plenty of solar radiation (much like Australia). As a result the cattle selected for had a solid coat, rather than the more broken coat of the German cattle, and the need to have goggles or pigment around the eyes and hooded eyes to reduce the risk of eye cancers was highly desirable.

The first Fleckviehs were imported into Australia in the 1970’s and were incorporated with the Simmentals in the same breed society. Due to differences of opinion the two breeds separated in early 2000s. The Australian Fleckvieh breeders wanted the cattle to remain ‘true to type” with no infusion of other breeds genes to create black or pure red cattle. As a result you will not find any black or fully red Fleckvieh cattle.

Fleckvieh pronounced “Fleck-vee” is the world’s only true dual purpose breed specializing in both beef and milk production. The breed originates from Germany and Austria and with 41 million cattle worldwide, they are the second most numerous beef breed, behind Brahman and are surprisingly the second most milked breed behind Holstein.

Fleckvieh are an efficient, highly adaptable breed that thrives in all climates of the world ranging from the deserts of Namibia to the snow covered alps.

By using specific sire lines, Fleckvieh cattle can be individually tailored for beef production or dual purpose milk and beef production. The outstanding trait of the Fleckvieh cow is her milk yield. This makes them ideal as vealer mothers, ensuring high weaning weights. Because of their earlier maturity patterns, Fleckvieh have the ability to reach market targets earlier than most other European breeds ensuring greater profits for the producer.

Fleckvieh for Beef Production

The breed is medium to large framed, well-muscled with good length, width and depth of body. They are well known for high fertility, excellent adaptability and docile character.

Proven under Australian conditions to boost dairy production by:

• Conception rates
• Fertility
• Fat and Protein
• Animal health and well being
• Added value for the sale of calves and cows.
• Lower Intercalving period.
• No increase in calving difficulty.

Fleckvieh, Proven under Australian conditions to boost beef production by:

• Growth
• Carcass
• Fertility
• Maternal Traits
• Temperament
• Market Targets
• Adaptability
• and most of all Profits!