It is a composite breed, created in the twentieth century by cross-breeding local Criollo cattle of the Hartón breed with imported dairy cattle of European type.
Local Criollo cattle of the Hartón del Valle breed were cross-bred with imported European-type dairy cattle of the Friesian and Milking Shorthorn breeds.
[4]: 117 [5]: S39 By 1972 the percentages in the composite had stabilised at approximately 40% Friesian and 30% of each of Hartón and Shorthorn.
[3]: 233 In 1986 the Lucerna was kept on no more than fifteen farms; by the end of the century this number had tripled, and there were almost 3000 of the cattle.
[3]: 233 The milk yield is not high, averaging little over 2000 kg in a lactation of approximately 300 days.