São Jorge Island with largest number of Ramo Grande cattle population, says António Ventura - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Agricultura e Alimentação

The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Food noted today, in Velas, the evolution taken place over the last 10 years in the number of Ramo Grande cattle population on the island of São Jorge, pointing out that among the 2,443 specimens in the Azores, almost half are on the island of São Jorge.

"If there were 889 specimens in São Jorge in 2015, there are now 1,150, with the island registering the largest number of Ramo Grande cattle population in the entire Region in a total of 2,443 animals," he announced.

António Ventura spoke on the sidelines of a meeting with the board of the São Jorge Island Farmers' Association, as part of the Government's statutory visit to the island.

It should be noted that the Ramo Grande cattle breed is one of the Azores' native breeds, considered by the Regional Secretary to be “a heritage and genetic identity that has a significant potential, namely educational, heritage, productive and social.”

On the occasion, the Secretary for Agriculture also recalled the increase in support for the protection of Native Breeds, which now represents an annual sum of 250 Euros per livestock unit for the Ramo Grande cattle breed according to Order no. 19/2024 of April 22, 2024.

The government official highlighted the Ramo Grande cattle breed for the fact that "there is a bit of Azorean history behind each specimen," bearing in mind that this was "a breed brought to the archipelago by the first settlers with a triple purpose, namely for work, meat production and milk production."

The Regional Secretary also recalled that 74 applications were approved in 2024 to support the preservation and maintenance of the Ramo Grande oxen, created by the Regional Government, amounting to 19,600 Euros, with São Jorge being the island with the most oxen to be supported, a total of 37.

"The Ramo Grande oxen are part of the archipelago's traditions and culture. Their maintenance entails costs that need to be covered to guarantee the continuity of the breed and, consequently, to ensure the cultural manifestations associated with it," he explained.

This support is based on the fact that the Ramo Grande breed originated in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. There is a pressing need to preserve it as a heritage of identity and a guarantee of genetic biodiversity.

"Therefore, it is a breed with tradition as well as cultural, educational, tourist and ethnographic identity, being a distinctive feature in the projection of the Azores," said António Ventura.