Belgian Blue Cattle: The Breed Built on Double Muscling
Selection for heavier muscling in the mid-20th century produced Belgium's most recognizable beef breed.
What is the Belgian Blue?
The Belgian Blue is a heavily muscled beef breed from central and upper Belgium, recognizable by its rounded outline and thick shoulders, back, loin and rump. According to the CattleSite breed profile, colors range from white and blue roan to black and combinations, with red in some genotypes.
The breed has a quiet temperament, and international producers mostly use it as a terminal sire, meaning its calves go to market rather than into breeding herds.
How the breed developed
In the second half of the 19th century, Shorthorn bulls were imported from the United Kingdom to improve the native dairy-type cattle, which were red-pied and black-pied. Some sources also cite the introduction of Charolais cattle in the same century.
From 1920 to 1950, selection focused on a dual-purpose animal. From 1950 to 1960 it shifted toward heavier muscling, and the real breakthrough came in the 1960s with the development of extreme double muscling. The profile does not give the year a herd book was established, so this entry does not either.
Double muscling and the myostatin gene
Double muscling is natural to the breed, and calves begin developing it at 4 to 6 weeks old. Belgian Blues carry a gene that suppresses myostatin, a protein that normally limits muscle growth. Pure Belgian Blues carry two copies of the gene. In crossbreeding, offspring usually inherit one copy, which increases carcass weight.
The profile reports carcass yield of up to 80 percent, and a boning-out yield of more than 85 percent.
What Made It Work
The breed's commercial case is carcass output, and its history is a record of focused selection.
The documented points are these.
- Selective breeding for muscle: the 1950s and 1960s shift toward heavy muscling defined the modern breed.
- Use as a terminal sire: in crossbreeding, one gene copy raises carcass yield 5 to 7 percent over the maternal line.
- Lean carcass: a USDA study at the Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska found 53 percent less fat cover than Hereford-Angus, with marbling 16 percent lower.
- Feed efficiency in fattening and a quiet temperament.
Calving, costs and limits
The profile says the breed is easy calving with a short gestation, and claims they calve more easily than Simmental, Charolais and Friesian crosses when used as terminal sires. Breed promotion material tends to stress these advantages, so anyone planning to breed Belgian Blues should also consult independent veterinary guidance.
The breed also reaches sexual maturity later than Charolais in European comparisons, with first calving averaging 32 months, though two-year-old calving has succeeded, averaging 23 months.
Where it is found today
The breed is now found in Europe, Brazil, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Adult bulls weigh 1,100 to 1,250 kilograms, and bulls over 1,300 kilograms are not rare.
The numbers help explain the breed's reputation. Cows weigh 850 to 900 kilograms and sometimes exceed 1.40 meters at the withers. The profile also reports that Belgian Blues showed higher muscularity, milk yield and daily gain than Charolais in European studies, though they were older at sexual maturity. In the USDA comparison with Hereford-Angus cattle, shear value was nearly identical, 12.8 against 12.9, which suggests the extra muscle did not come at the expense of tenderness in that test. Fat cover was 0.21 inch against 0.45 inch, and marbling was 16 percent lower.
For ranching stories from other regions, see farm.FM's ranching section and a farm.FM story about Belgian Blue cattle. Further reading includes the Wikipedia article on double-muscled cattle and the Wikipedia article on the breed.
Timeline
- 1800sShorthorn bulls are imported from the UK to improve native Belgian cattle.
- 1920Selection focuses on a dual-purpose animal through 1950.
- 1950Selection shifts toward heavier muscling through 1960.
- 1960sExtreme double muscling brings the real breakthrough.
- TodayThe breed is found in Europe, Brazil, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Belgian Blue cow known for?
Extreme double muscling, caused by a gene that suppresses myostatin, a protein that normally limits muscle growth. Carcass yield is reported at up to 80 percent.
Where does the Belgian Blue come from?
Central and upper Belgium. In the second half of the 19th century, Shorthorn bulls from the UK were used to improve the native dairy-type cattle.
How much does a Belgian Blue bull weigh?
Adult bulls weigh 1,100 to 1,250 kilograms, with withers height of 1.45 to 1.50 meters. Bulls over 1,300 kilograms are not rare.
Is Belgian Blue beef lean?
A USDA study cited by the profile found 53 percent less fat cover and 16 percent less marbling than Hereford-Angus cattle.
Sources and further reading
Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.
More from the hall
- 1822-1907Louis WillemsA doctor from Hasselt turned his attention to a lung disease killing local cattle and described the principle of…Belgium
- 1600sAfrikanerDescended from the herds of the Khoikhoi, the deep red Afrikaner was once South Africa's most numerous cattle breed.South Africa
- AntiquityAnkole-WatusiPrized by Nkole and Tutsi herders as living status symbols, the long-horned Ankole-Watusi now grazes pastures in North…Uganda
- 1937 onwardBonsmaraA university experiment that began in 1937 produced a composite breed that became South Africa's most numerous beef…South Africa
- AntiquityBoranA zebu type of the Borana people became the base of Kenya's improved beef breed and a source of genetics for ranches…Kenya
- 1849 onwardBrahmanFewer than 300 imported animals, mostly bulls, became the foundation of the breed that made beef production workable…Texas