The Alps separate Switzerland on the southern
border from Italy, and the Jura Mountains form the boundary between
Switzerland and France. Much of the arable land of the country lies
in the central plain, which has an average elevation in excess of
1,200 feet.
Here the climate is very enjoyable most of
the year with an average mean temperature of about 50 degrees F. The
plain has an annual rainfall of approximately that of the midwestern
Corn Belt region of the United States, but in the mountainous regions
the winters are very severe and excessive rainstorms are common during
the summer months.
Switzerland has been noted as a cheese producing
country for many years, and in the summer many of the dairy herds
are taken into the mountainous regions and are grazed on the abundant
pastures and meadows that result from the heavy rainfall.
Cheesemakers and caretakers of the cattle accompany
the herds to the mountains during the summer months, but as fall approaches,
the cattle are returned to the lower lands where they are stabled
or housed for the winter.
During the Middle Ages the land of Switzerland
was under the feudal system, and agricultural improvement was not
marked.
After the turn of the 19th century agricultural
conditions in Switzerland were much improved; lands in many of the
22 cantons (similar to states) of Switzerland were put under fence,
and crops of turnips, beets, and improved hays were introduced.
This decidedly improved the feed supply available
for cattle, and interest was aroused in breeding cattle that were
more productive. Improvements in cheese manufacturing that were made
about in 1825 created a market for an increased quantity of milk.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Origin of the Breed
The Foundation Stock. Concerning the origin
of the Brown Swiss, Prentice,1 who made an exhaustive study of the
origin of the various dairy breeds, has stated:
Brown Swiss cattle, therefore, first became
prominent among dairy breeds about a 100 years ago. The exact date
when this fashion arose is not certain, but it was at some time in
the first half of the 19th century.
The Brown Swiss breed in the United States
was declared a dairy breed in 1906, and in 1907 a classification for
Brown Swiss was provided at the National Dairy Show.
Many writers have suggested that the breed
is centuries old and that little crossing with other breeds has been
done for hundreds of years. As is the case in the origin of the other
breeds of livestock, this conclusion seems to be more romantic than
correct.
The Brown Swiss, as we know it in the United
States today, originated in the cantons of Schwyz, Zug, St. Gallen,
Glarus, Lucerne, and Zurich of Switzerland.
The canton of Schwyz was the scene of most
of the early improvement, and in Switzerland the breed is often referred
to as Schwyer or Brown Schwyzer. Unimproved cattle similar to the
Brown Swiss have been in this territory for a considerable period
of time.
All the cantons in which the breeds originated
are inhabited by German speaking people, and apparently large cattle
were brought in from Germany to improve the cattle of Switzerland,
which until about 1860 were often quite lacking in size.
The brown cow is known as Braunvieh in German
speaking countries; Bruna Alpina in Italy, Brunedes Alpes in France,
and Pardo Suizo in Spain and Latin America including Brazil.
The Pinzgaur breed, which is apparently a
native of Austria, seems to have been the breed from that country
that was used in the improvement of the Brown Swiss.
The predominant cattle of Schwyz in about 1860
were of a chestnut to a dull black color, and most of the cattle were
darker on their fore- and hindquarters than of their bodies. Many
of them carried a light-colored or light grayish stripe down their
backs.
This variation of color pattern was apparently
introduced from the Pinzgau, and the Brown Swiss of the modern day
seem to have acquired the light dorsal stripe from these cattle brought
in from Austria.
Since no records of the breed were maintained
for a good many decades after the formation of the breed, it is altogether
possible that other cattle could have been used in the improvement.
Direct evidence of such crosses is lacking.
Breed Activity in Switzerland. There has been
extremely little promotion of the Brown Swiss breed in its native
country although it has been exported to Russia, Italy, Germany, the
United States, and many other countries where it has gained a very
favorable reputation.
Herd Books for the Brown Swiss did not appear
in its native land until 1911, although such a Herd Book has appeared
20 years earlier in the United States.
Such breed promotional activities as are carried
on the Switzerland are largely under the auspices of a government
subsidized association that sponsors shows and sales of purebred livestock.
A Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders Association,
which was organized in Switzerland, has been active in promoting shows
and in the production testing and classification of the breed.
Reference:
Briggs, H.M. & D.M. Briggs. Modern Breeds of Livestock. Fourth
Edition. Macmillan Publishing Co. 1980 (reprinted with permission
from Dr. Briggs).
Photographs:
Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders' Association of
America, Beloit, WI
Handbook of Australian Livestock, Australian
Meat & Livestock Corporation,1989, 3rd Edition
Hoards Dairyman, Fort Atkinson, WI
