Cash cows

From French Turn to 'Cash Cows' as Alternative Investments:
" The French, known for their mistrust of banks, are not just stuffing money into mattresses in these anxious days of recession and minuscule interest rates. They are also putting their cash into cows.

There are about 37,000 cows under contract at 880 farms.

An investment in cows can bring a 4 to 5 percent return a year based on the sale of their offspring. For Mr. Durand, the arrangement frees up capital for improvements to his small dairy farm.

For Pierre Marguerit, 60, cows make a safe, secure investment, allowing for long-term growth from a renewable resource. The cow contracts are hardly new, but go back to Richard the Lionheart; the French word for livestock, “cheptel,” is the root for “capital.”"
Coming from a rural farming family, I have a weakness for this kind of schemes. I wonder whether this kind of investment can be combined with microfinance.