Swiss want their cows slimmer and petite

Cowing down: As dried out pastures force European farmers to buy expensive feed for their bovines, a Swiss dairy association has called for engineering smaller sized cows that will not only eat less but also give a comparable amount of milk as the existing breed of Simmental cows. Muscular cows: In the last 50 years, Swiss cows have bulked up — tipping the scales at 800kg — having been sired from the semen of the American Red Holstein bull, and doubled their milk output to 7.400 litres annually. The dairy association says the smaller bovines, weighing 500-600 kg can give an annual milk output of 6,000-7,000 litres. Continental crisis: It's not just the Swiss dairy industry that is feeling the heat — Germany, Europe's second largest grain producer, is looking at its smallest dairy harvest in nearly a quarter of a century due to extreme drought and heat, forcing it to import costly feed for its pigs and cows.