Meat · Breed · Short entry
Marchigiana
A white beef breed of the Marche in central Italy, shaped in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by crossing local cattle with Chianina and then Romagnola bulls. Bulls often exceed 1,200 kg. With Chianina and Romagnola, it is one of the three breeds of the Vitellone Bianco dell'Appennino Centrale IGP.
Chianina blood, then Romagnola
The ANABIC breed standard traces the Marchigiana to large-horned cattle that reached Italy in the sixth century. In the second half of the nineteenth century, local cows were crossed with Chianina bulls to improve their beef qualities; the offspring were called "cornetti". In the early twentieth century, Romagnola bulls were used to reduce height and improve conformation. Crossbreeding stopped in 1932, when selection within the herd book began. From the 1970s the breed was exported to the Americas, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Vitellone Bianco and the myostatin test
Marchigiana beef can be sold as Vitellone Bianco dell'Appennino Centrale IGP, which is limited to the Chianina, Marchigiana and Romagnola breeds. Under the specification, cows are generally kept at pasture from spring to autumn and calves suckle their mothers until weaning. Silage is banned in the last four months before slaughter.
A myostatin mutation that causes muscular hypertrophy also occurs in the breed. ANABIC notes that calves carrying two copies can have birth problems such as an enlarged tongue. All young bulls entering its genetic centre are tested for it.
