Meat
Nelore
C tier
Nelore is a white or light grey zebu (Bos indicus) beef breed of Indian Ongole ancestry that became the dominant cattle type of tropical Brazil and much of Latin America. Heat tolerance, parasite resistance, and thrift on sparse forage make it ideal for extensive ranching; beef is typically lean, firm, and strongly flavoured when grass-finished, with a distinctive zebu fibre structure that benefits from ageing or slow cookery. Brazilian selection has produced high-performing purebred and crossbred lines for carcass weight and fertility under harsh climates. Nelore underpins much of South American export beef and is widely crossed with British and Continental breeds to combine tropical adaptation with marbling and tenderness.
Also known as: Ongole
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Characteristics
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Grading systems
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History
Ongole cattle of Andhra Pradesh were already prized as large, hardy draught and meat zebu in southern India.
Early Ongole-type zebu arrived in Brazil, founding the foundation stock later known as Nelore.
Brazilian breeders organised the Nelore breed society and standardised the white zebu type for national herds.
Rapid expansion of Nelore across the Cerrado and Amazon frontiers made it the majority beef breed of Brazil.
Genetic evaluation programmes and embryo transfer accelerated selection for growth, fertility, and carcass traits.
Nelore and Nelore-cross cattle supplied a large share of global tropical grass-fed beef exports from Latin America.