Resulting from the crossing of three breeds (the Femeline, the Comtoise from Franche-Comté, and the Bern breed from Switzerland), the Montbéliarde was recognized as an official breed in 1889. Both a producer of milk and meat, it is today considered the second dairy breed in France behind the Prim'Holstein. Its milk allows, in particular, the production of numerous cheese vintages. The Montbéliarde occupies the rank of first dairy cow in the French protected designations of origin since the exclusion of so-called foreign breeds in the 1990s.