Calvana

The Calvana originates on the flanks of the Apennines of northern Tuscany, particularly in the Monti della Calvana [it] and in the Mugello. It appears to derive from cross-breeding of Chianina stock with cattle of other Podolian breeds, among them the Romagnola and the Maremmana.^{[3]: 147 [4]: 16}

The cattle were formerly reared in large numbers in their area of origin; a census in the 1930s found approximately 30000 head. Numbers fell heavily in the years after the Second World War – a time of major change in Italian agriculture, partly as a result both of mechanisation and of the collapse of the traditional mezzadria system – and by 1983 the total population numbered 61 head.^{[3]: 147 [4]: 16} A programme of recovery was undertaken through further cross-breeding with Chianina stock, but details of the methodology were not documented.^[3]: 147

A herd-book was established in 1985.^[2] The Calvana, previously considered a type within the Chianina breed, was recognised as a distinct breed in its own right. It is one of the sixteen minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognised and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture.^[5]

The Calvana was in the past raised as a dual-purpose breed, both for meat and as a draught animal, though with an emphasis on its use as a working animal;^[4]: 17 in the twenty-first century it is raised exclusively for meat. Animals are slaughtered between 15 and 21 months old, when they weigh some 500–700 kg; the average killing-out percentage is 59.2%, slightly lower than that of the Chianina.^[6]

It is among the cattle breeds included in the Ark of Taste of the international Slow Food Foundation.^[7]