Many Swiss cows are getting too heavy for soft Alpine pastures, too wide for their stalls and too gluttonous for their owners. An interest group is now calling for cows to be bred that are smaller, lighter and more easily sated. Some cows are more than 1.60 metres (5’3”) in height and tip the scales at more than 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds). “Every year cows are getting three millimetres taller on average – this trend must be stopped,” said Markus Gerber, president of the breeders’ association Swissherdbook. Michael Schwarzenberger, a teacher of animal husbandry at the agricultural educational and advice centre in Arenenberg, northeastern Switzerland, explains that many stalls were built 25 or 30 years ago based on how big cows were at the time. “For today’s cows it’s often a bit tight, especially when they lie down. What’s more, the heavy cattle trample over the fields and meadows and churn them up. And not only do they need more fodder to produce the same amount of milk, ...
