Piedmontese are from the Piedmont Mountain area of northern Italy. They are thought to be the product of two distinct breeds - the Auroch and the Zebu - fused and evolved over 25,000 years of natural selection to become the Piedmontese breed.

Pinzgauer were developed in the "Pinzgau" district in the province of Salzburg, Austria, and appear for the first time in documents in the 1600's.

Herefords are an ancient breed, kept in Herefordshire in western England for centuries. They gained their modern appearance around 1800 by crossing with cattle from Flanders. Originally, Herefords were large framed draught cattle, some weighing over 3,000 pounds. During the nineteenth century there was selective breeding for early maturity, which entailed a reduction in the size of the frame. The first herd book was published in 1846, and later adopted by the 'Hereford Herd Book Society', founded in 1878.