This Podolica-origin breed descended from the Asiatic cattle that reached
Italy during the fourth century AD following the barbarian invasions. In
order to improve the original stock, the Marchigiana was crossed with the
Chianina and then with the Romagnola. In 1928, all types of crossbreeding
were stopped so that the breed's extrinsic traits could be fixed through
morphological and functional selection.
The modern-day Marchigiana is a cattle type that has significant somatic
development and it is characterized by a high growth capacity and outstandign
precocity. It has a white coat that may have some gray shading in the males.
The skin and mucosae oris have a black pigmentation. The Marchigiana has
a light head with short horns. It has a long cylkindrical trunk with excellent
muscle development, particularly in the buttocks and thights. The cows have
excellent maternal capabilities and calving is natural, with the calves wighing
an average of 45 kg at birth.
It also has an excellent growth capacity and in the best specimens wight
gain can peak at 2 kg a day. The cows weigh between 700 and 900 kgs while
males range from 1200 to 1500 kgs. A precdocious breed, it reaches its ideal
slaughter weight at the age of 15-16 month, for a yield as high as 67%.
The Marchigiana breed is widespread throughout the Marches, Latium, Abruzzo
and Campania.
Starting in 1993, several carriers of muscle hypertrophism were identified in the area of origin of the Marchigiana breed. This trait, which had already been observed ad a far back as the nineteenth century in a number of beef cattle breeds, is manifested mainly through a much greater muscle development than what is usually seen in normal individuals, thus leading to a significant increase in yield at slaughter. Since this is a rather complex trait whose means of genetic transimssion have not yet been fully clarified, an experimental project was started to study the Marchigiana. This project involves setting up a nucleus of hypertrophic subjects so that their production and reproductive performance can then be assessed thoroughly. These results will make it possible to establish the best ways of using this new genetic type.