Ternera de Extremadura PGI

Other notes

Characteristics:

 - Ternera: a bright red color with white fat, firm consistency, slightly moist and fine texture

 - Añojo:  light to purplish red, with white fat, firm to the touch, slightly moist and fine texture.

 - Novillo: cherry red, with cream fat, firm to the touch and slightly moist, fine texture and medium amount of intramuscular fat.

Production / Processing method

Suckler cows are farmed extensively and feed on natural resources. Feed is based on the pastures available on the dehesa rangelands or other native pastures in the Extremaduran ecosystem, being consumed freely throughout the year and supplemented when necessary with straw, hay, cereals, legumes and fiber concentrates. Slaughtering and meat dressing take place within the authorized territory and may only be carried out in the slaughterhouses and packinghouses that have been authorized and registered by the Regulatory Council.

Geography / Relief and climate

Cattle rearing in Extremadura has traditionally been extensive, maintaining equilibrium between farm and wild animals, the environment and human intervention. The extensive farming concept ties in closely with the use of large surface areas for grazing. The harsh climate and low soil quality are the main reasons for the predominance of cattle production.

Extremadura is crossed by three mountain ranges – to the north, the Central range with the Sierra de Gredos foothills, in the center between the Tagus and Guadiana rivers the continuation of the Toledo Mountains and, to the south, the foothills of the Sierra Morena. The region’s average altitude is 1312 ft.

Most of the soils in the province of Cáceres were formed from siliceous materials, especially granite rocks and large extensions of slate and sandstone. The soils in the province of Badajoz belong to the Entisol, Inceptisol, Alfisol and Vertisol orders.

The climate is continental, with a slight Atlantic influence. Average annual rainfall is 2 ft, reaching 4 ft in the mountain areas in the north-east. The average annual temperature is 16-17ºC / 60-62º F (falling to 10ºC / 50ºF in the north). Temperature peaks may exceed 40ºC in summer, or 3-4ºC / 37-39 º F in winter.

Extremadura is crossed from east to west by two large rivers, the Tagus (Cáceres) and the Guadiana (Badajoz, Extremadura).

Regulatory Council

Consejo Regulador de la IGP Ternera de Extremadura
Avda. Ruta de la Plata, 4
10001 Cáceres
Tel: (+34) 927 629 146
consejoregulador@terneradeextremadura.org
www.terneradeextremadura.org

Sources:
 
- Spanish Ministry of Agriculture

- Regulatory Council, Ternera de Extremadura PGI