The Calvana is an Italian breed of cattle from Tuscany, in central Italy. It is particularly associated with the region in the provinces of Florence and Prato, but is also raised in the provinces of Pistoia and Siena.
History
The Calvana originates on the flanks of the Apennines of northern Tuscany, particularly in the and in the Mugello. It appears to derive from cross-breeding of Chianina stock with cattle of other Podolian breeds, among them the Romagnola and the Maremmana.
The cattle were formerly reared in large numbers in their area of origin; a census in the 1930s found approximately head. Numbers fell heavily in the years after the Second World War – a time of major change in Italian agriculture, partly as a result both of mechanisation and of the collapse of the traditional mezzadria system – and by 1983 the total population numbered 61 head. A programme of recovery was undertaken through further cross-breeding with Chianina stock, but details of the methodology were not documented.
A herd-book was established in 1985. The Calvana, previously considered a type within the Chianina breed, was recognised as a distinct breed in its own right. It is one of the sixteen minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognised and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture.
Use
The Calvana was in the past raised as a dual-purpose breed, both for meat and as a draught animal, though with an emphasis on its use as a working animal; in the twenty-first century it is raised exclusively for meat. Animals are slaughtered between 15 and 21 months old, when they weigh some ; the average killing-out percentage is 59.2%, slightly lower than that of the Chianina.
It is among the cattle breeds included in the Ark of Taste of the international Slow Food Foundation.
References
Norme Tecniche del Registro Anagrafico delle razze bovine autoctone a limitata diffusione (Appendix 2 to DM di approvazione del Disciplinare del 20/12/2011; in Italian). Associazione Italiana Allevatori. Accessed July 2013.
Pierlorenzo Secchiari (co-ordinator) (2007). Scheda di Razza: Calvana (in Italian). Conference papers, Salvaguardia e valorizzazione del patrimonio zootecnico autoctono della Regione Toscana con riferimento alle seguenti razze: Bovini: Calvana, Garfagnina, Pontremolese; Ovini: Garfagnina Bianca, Pomarancina, Zerasca. Regione Toscana, Università di Pisa, Università di Firenze. Accessed December 2013.
Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 23 June 2020.
Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. .
Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. .
Breed data sheet: Calvana / Italy (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2026.
Vacca Calvana: Arca del Gusto (in Italian). Bra, Cuneo: Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità Onlus/Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Accessed January 2026.