Breading of beef cattle in Magsasay

There are two basic species of cattle used in the Western World and the Netropics to produce beef and milk:

Boss Indicus- the Indian origin cattle: Brahma, Gyr, Guzerat, Indobrazil, etc

Boss Taurus- the European cattle like: Holsteins , Angus, Simmental, Red Pole

These two species are very different, in its appearance and in their uses; the Indian cattle very resistant to aggressive environments and the European, very productive but requiring much friendly environments.

In India , the cattle is considered sacred which means no body hurts it, or use it , much less eat it, lives among people, it is not unusual to see cattle wandering through cities. Nevertheless it is totally left to survive on its own, this has happened for many centuries, resulting in a natural selection producing a very resistant animal, resistant to high temperatures; little, poor, and not always available foods; and resistant to tropical diseases.

As an example the survival quality of the Boss Indicus, its capacity to dissipate heat is incredible, not only has developed a much higher skin surface than European cattle but the porosity is substantially higher than its European cousin.

But in turn productivity is very modest, in weigh gain per day or milk production per day. It is basically a survivor!!

In Europe , cattle has been vital for the survival of its inhabitants through time. It has been basic as a source of food, work and dress and even a source of heat for the winter. As a result men have through centuries selected and specialize breeds of cattle according to their regional needs and uses. The cattle in a symbiotic relation developed also a dependency on people in terms of food and shelter to the point of make them ideal for their conditions. But difficult to adapt to aggressive climates and living conditions of the tropics and specially difficult for a grazing.

Cattle Operations in the tropics
Magsasay is located a t 10 degrees North of the equator and 600 ft above see level and on the humid side of Costa Rica with rainfall of 12 ft per year. Very difficult conditions indeed for any animal, nevertheless, man has used genetics knowledge to produce hybrids to produced a better animal for the conditions of the tropics.

Beef cattle production in Magsasay
For 25 years Hacienda Pozo Azul operated a so called "double purpose" cattle operation, where the emphasis was milk production, while raising all calves for meat production the males and replacement heifers the females. Breads used were: Brown Swiss and Holstein as European breeds and Gyr and Brahma as Indian cattle. The main end product was fresh farm cheese sold in macrobiotic restaurants.

In 1997 HPA established its model dairy with pure European breeds under controlled temperature, with mechanical cooling using.