They may not be a new breed of cattlemen, but they are certainly raising a new breed of cattle. Father and son Richard and Rodney Olsen of Neola are the largest producers of purebred Tarentaise cattle in the state of Utah.
The rust colored Tarentaise hail from the Tarentaise Valley of France, but according to Rodney, are so versatile that they "can run anywhere from the Sahara Desert to the French Alps."Tarentaise were introduced in the United States in 1972. The Olsens introduced them to the Uintah Basin in 1985. The Olsens previously raised registered Herefords. Rodney says he and his father were in the process of researching different breeds and traveled to Montana to examine some of the "exotic" new breeds.
They became sold on a breed of cattle many in the industry had never even heard of and few could pronounce.
"Dad and I have always wanted a purebred breed," Rodney related. "We went to Montana and we ended up bringing them home. They had to prove themselves, when they first came in, because at the same time several exotic breeds came in."
Although the breed is going strong in Montana, Nebraska, Iowa and North Dakota, it isn't well-established in Utah. The Olsens began with just 14 head and are working hard to make Tarentaise a familiar name in Utah's cattle industry by aggressively registering their purebred herd, which will soon number 140.
The Olsens chose the breed over others because of the bottom line: "There's a high rate of return," Rodney explained. "They are a strong maternal breed, they produce the milk to raise those calves and they're gonna mother those calves. They are very protective, aggressive mothers."
And apparently very fertile. A 5-year-old cow gave birth to quadruplets Feb. 23. All four calves are alive and doing very well. The cow was artificially inseminated with one straw but had not been given fertility drugs to increase the chance of multiple births, according to the Olsens.
The probability of a cow having four live births is extremely rare. In fact, Utah State University professor of reproductive physiology Tom Bunch said he's never heard of it happening.
"It's extremely, highly uncommon," he noted, "and then to have all of them survive is very rare, because they are all competing for the same nutrition in the uterus."
State Extension veterinarian Clell Bagley says he's never heard of quadruplets being born to a cow and to his knowledge, there are no records - at least in Utah - where it has happened before.
The only record the Olsens have been able to locate came from the Guiness Book of World Records, where it was documented that in 1928 a Holstein in Great Britain had five live births.
Another plus for the breed is that they mature early. "A buyer got some loads (of different breeds) and ours were shipped last but finished first," Richard stated. "They mature at 1,200 pounds, the ideal weight."
The Olsens haven't had to work hard to sell their Tarentaise cattle either. They basically "sell themselves," Rodney said. "We haven't even tried to promote them. We've run two ads in nine years' time.
"They will produce and compete with anything."
The Olsens' Tarentaise have taken top honors at livestock shows in Utah and Colorado.