Archive Article: 2002/05/10
Bravo cattle are not the only bovines raised at El Romeral, where about 450 meat-producing animals are also kept to produce weaned calves for the open market.
Of these, 350 are pure Retinta, a native Andalucian breed, dark red in colour with open lyre horns.
Most are crossed with a Limousin or Charolais bull and the calves sold on at six months old for further fattening. At this stage the weaned bull calves are worth about k480/head (£294) and the females about k390/head (£238).
But about 100 of the Retintas are put to a Retinta bull to produce potential breeding stock. While the pure-bred bull calves fetch a more modest k420/head (£257) at six months, the females are much more valuable and are normally retained as replacements.
The rest of the breeding herd – about 100 animals – is made up of Retinta/Limousin crosses, which are put to a Limousin bull.
There is also a Charolais bull, which is used to cover some of the Bravo fighting cattle. The lighter coloured calves this cross produces command a higher price than the darker animals that a Simmental would throw and which could easily be confused with a pure Bravo.
Total production cost is estimated at around k150/head (£92), and the cows all qualify for suckler cow premium.