Rock engravings found in the caves of southern France resemble the present-day Limousin.
These golden-red cattle thrive in harsh, rugged and rocky conditions. These animals where
originally used as ‘draught-animals’ and then fattened for slaughter as ‘butcher’s meat’.

The breed has developed into a highly efficient beef producing animal with a well muscled
carcase without excessive fat. The breed is the number one breed in the United Kingdom.The
first Limousin cattle were imported to South Africa from France in 1974.The breed has increased in popularity with breeders growing from 7 to 101. There are in excess of 11 000 animals registered in South Africa today.

Rodrique Limousin was established in 2003 and since then only used top quality breeding
animals in the breeding Program.

The Limousin breed has always been known for its ability to turn inputs into kilograms of red meat. With the unveiling of case-ready products, Limousin genetics add a whole new meaning to the word efficiency.

Over the years, Limousin has gained a favorable reputation for their calving-ease, calf vigor and overall survivability.

The findings on birth weight and calving difficulty showed a distinct advantage for Limousin compared with most other popular breeds.

Continually striving for improvement, Rodrique Limousin has focused selection pressure to maintain the breed’s sensible birth weight advantage while bending the curve on growth traits. “We really search for those curve bender bulls, or those bulls with low birth weights and good growth gains.”

The Advantages that the Limousin offers is more than just the excellent hybrid power it can deliver. It is a breed that is very adaptable and does very well in acid veld and mountainous conditions and at the same time extremely suitable for a feedlot. The Limousins are also very convenient to work with. It is a breed that still has a lot of potential to grow in numbers in South Africa. As it is still a younger breed in the country it is important to place strict focus on breeding qualities to keep the breed in the right direction.