Have a Cow, Man

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When Roger Federer won Wimbledon last year, Swiss tennis officials presented him with Juliette, a prize cow. But you don't have to be a tennis star to own a fine Swiss bovine. Nina, Beate and Britta are big brown cows that spend their days grazing the picturesque Alpine meadows above Brienz, in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland—and they're for rent.

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Why would anyone want to rent a cow? Say "cheese"—several varieties produced from your protégé's milk will, by summer's end, be yours. Last year the cows' owners, farmers Paul and Helga Wyler, decided to beef up their income by renting out the bovines. This year they are leasing their 100 cows. You select a cow (pictures can be seen at www.kuhleasing.ch), and pay the leasing fee of $300 as well as the additional $13 per kg of cheese your cow will produce during the summer, amounting to about 70-120 kg. In the fall you are invited to go up to the Wylers' farm to get the soft or hard Swiss cheese.

The Wylers, who ask that the renters spend at least half a day helping out with farm chores, say their customers are city slickers from around the world. "We never imagined it would turn out to be so popular," says Paul.