The Gelbvieh (pronounced Gelp-fee) breed is one of the oldest German cattle breeds, first found mainly in three Franconian districts of Bavaria. Starting in 1850, systematic breeding work began in stud herds. By purebreeding, the "red-yellow Franconian cattle" were developed from several local strains, including Celtic-German Landrace and Heil-Brown Landrace cattle. These local strains have been further improved with intensive breeding work since 1870. This solid-colored breed of red-yellow cattle enjoyed great popularity as draft and slaughter cattle.

In the 1960s, Red Danish cattle were introduced to the herd book to improve milk production. LeHall, the director of International Marketing for Carnation Genetics, first saw Gelbvieh cattle in 1969. He worked toward importing Gelbvieh semen to the U.S., and finally was able to bring 43,000 units here in 1971. In that same year, the American Gelbvieh Association was formed.

Today, there are approximately 70,000 active, registered Gelbvieh cows in the United States and nearly 2,000 active members of the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA). AGA is the largest Gelbvieh association in the world and ranks eighth in number of registered animals among beef breed associations in the United States.

Gelbvieh calves are widely recognized for excellence in growth, muscling and marketability, while Gelbvieh females are known for milking ability, fertility and quiet temperament. Crossbreeding of Continental bulls (i.e. Gelbvieh) to British cows (i.e. Angus, Red Angus, or Shorthorn) provides the obvious benefit of hybrid vigor combined with the positive results of breeds complementarity.