Smallest breed of dairy cattle

The smallest breed of dairy cattle is the Jersey cow, native to the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands off France. Adults average 120 cm in height, and weigh on average 400–500 kg. It is an excellent grazer and very heat-tolerant (it breeds even in the hottest regions of Brazil), and is claimed by some to have a longer average productive life than all other dairy breeds. The Jersey breed descended from cattle stock brought over from Norman France, and was first documented as a separate breed in its own right in 1700. It remained entirely isolated from all other breeds from 1789 to 2008, owing to Jersey laws forbidding the import of other cattle breeds onto the island.