Allmogekor

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Allmogekor; Allmoge cattle; singular Allmogeko [almu:??ku:] is a generic term for the old native breeds of cattle from Sweden.

Video Allmogekor

Individual breeds

There are a number of individual Allmogeko breeds. Official herdbook keeper for most of them is the Föreningen Allmogekon, the Allmogeko Society. For the time being it concentrates on maintaining three breeds and only keeps herdbooks for these three:

• Bohuskulla ^{[-> sv]},
• Ringamålako,
• Väneko ^{[-> sv]}.

For two distinct dairy breeds, Fjällko and Rödkulla ^{[-> sv]}, the herdbook keeper is Svensk Mjölk, the Swedish Association of dairy farmers.

On its Red List, the Swedish Samarbetsgruppen Lantrasforum (Cooperative Group Landrace Forum) ranks all five of these Allmogeko breeds in the highest risk level, "acutely threatened".

Maps Allmogekor

Usage

These cattle are often hardy and well adapted for extensive production as they are good foragers, self-sufficient and very active. This makes them well suited for grazing on fields and woods in national parks, etc. They were used as dual- to triple-purpose breeds, i. e. as breeds which served as draft animals, dairy cattle and beef suppliers. No longer able to compete with modern single-purpose breeds in terms of profit maximization, they are preserved as a cultural heritage, as living gene banks, and as extensive care cattle suited both for conservation projects and for young Swedish back-to-the-country families.

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The name

Swedish ?kor? (cows) is the plural form of ?ko? (cow), ?allmoge? is the farming class or rural class in a neutral sense; the name might thus be translated as ?farming class cattle?, ?farmers' cattle? or simply ?country cattle?. The translation ?peasantry cattle?, used by Föreningen Allmogekon, does not quite confer the Swedish sense, as the British term ?peasantry? has a more negative ring to it (compare the articles on ?peasantry? in both Wikipedia and wiktionary).

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See also

• List of breeds of cattle
• Telemark cattle

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External links

• Homepage of the Allmogeko-Society: Föreningen Allmogekon (Swedish; accessed Mar-18-2013)
• Description page on Oklahoma State University's web site: Breeds of Livestock: Cattle (Bos): Allmogekor. (accessed Mar-18-2013)
• Allmogekor as draft animals - Oxar.se: Main page, Kettil and Gilbert. (Swedish; accessed Mar-18-2013)

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References

Source of article : Wikipedia