Welcome to the Vaca Pallaresa Breeders Association website. The purposes of this Association are preservation, expansion, genetic improvement, promotion and any other activity that benefits this minority bovine breed in danger of extinction.
It is a docile and manageable cow, adapted to a high mountain habitat in which they live, producing excellent quality meat, mostly raised on organic farms.
Although their origin is somewhat confusing and is lost in oral tradition, it seems that they came from the crossing of cattle from the Gray trunk of the steppes with the autochthonous ones of centuries ago from Alt Pirineu regions; resulting in a cow that was highly appreciated for its triple aptitude: meat, milk and work.
It was the predominant breed in Pallars Sobirà and neighboring regions for a long time, until its decline began in the second half of the 20th century, with the advent of machinery and as it was unable to compete in milk production with the more improved imported breeds, since practically all the cattle farms were dedicated to milk production at that time.
The most critical point is found at the end of the 20th century, when it became practically extinct, and it is currently in the recovery phase, with 8 farms that preserve it and a current census of 60 breeding animals and 20 calves. It was reoriented towards meat production, with traditional mountain management; spending the summer season in the highest parts of the mountains (from 1,500 to 2,500 m altitude) and the winter season in the cattle farms, where they are fed with the fodder collected during the summer, and they also give birth by that time of the year.
Two important milestones in recent years were the recognition as an autochthonous Catalan breed in 2010 by Generalitat de Catalunya, and the subsequent inclusion in the Official Catalog of Cattle Breeds of Spain in 2015, with the corresponding creation of the Stud Book of the Pallaresa bovine breed and approval of the Breeding Program.