Lowline Cattle
(Photo : Dario Peruzzo, hubli-hof )
Officially called ‘Australian Lowline’ cattle, in Switzerland they are usually just referred to as ‘Lowline’. They were ‘created’ in Australia: For 19 years, an experiment was carried out at the Trangie Agricultural Research Centre to determine whether large or small animals could convert grass into meat more efficiently. Animals of the Angus breed were divided into three groups: the ‘High Line’ for animals with a high growth rate, the ‘Low Line’ for animals with a low growth rate, and randomly selected animals as a control group. Over the years, they were bred separately and compared. After 15 years, as a result of targeted breeding, animals in the Low Line were 30 percent smaller than those in the High Line. In terms of feed conversion efficiency, no difference was found.
Much like the large Angus, Lowline cattle can also be black or red. (Photo: Andreas Rüedi)
The small animals are very sociable and uncomplicated, and characterised by a calm temperament. Lowline cattle are not demanding when it comes to feed and are very well suited to grazing on slopes. Due to their lower withers height, they require significantly less space.
In contrast to other small breeds, Lowlines do not have a dwarfism gene, but are genetically identical to the Angus. Not only have Lowline cattle retained the Angus’s natural hornlessness and black or red colouring, they are also in no way inferior to their larger ‘siblings’ in terms of meat quality or prime-cuts yield. They are even praised for their higher meat yield, as in their case, a ‘whole cow’ stands on short legs.
Lowline cattle first arrived in Switzerland in 2016. They are still not very common here and hardly any breeding animals are for sale on the Swiss market.
Thanks to targeted breeding, Lowline cattle have shorter legs than the ‘big Angus’. (Photo: Andreas Rüedi)
Sources : www.mutterkuh.ch, www.swisslowline.ch
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