Ökorind

Wichtige fachliche Schwerpunkte liegen in den Themen Kuhfamilienzucht, Förderung alter und bedrohter Rassen und Unterstützung im Umgang und in der Haltung von horntragenden Rassen.

A new project on organic cattle breeding funded by the Software AG Foundation began on February 1, 2024. In addition to Ökologische Tierzucht gGmbH, Demeter Beratung e.V., the Demeter Landesverband Bayern, the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und bedrohter Haustierrassen (GEH) and Demeter im Norden are involved in the project. For a period of 5 years, this project will make it possible for the first time to firmly integrate specific content on cattle breeding into the advisory activities of the participating project partners.

Securing horned cattle breeding 

The key to securing the breeding of horned cattle is the activation and networking of farms with each other and the simultaneous support of farms in these activities through advice. The cross-association network of farms that actively breed cattle with horns, which was established in the course of previous projects, is to be further expanded. To this end, the existing website hornkuh.de will be revised in the near future and the farm database and presentation located there will be given greater focus. Existing advisory services (e.g. the targeted bull recommendation lists of the ÖTZ, support in the management of horn-bearing herds) are to be expanded and further developed and closely coordinated with the content on cow family breeding.

Cow family breeding as a suitable breeding method is particularly interesting for farms that want to work with natural breeding. The project aims to get new farms interested in cow family breeding, provide advisory support and improve the networking of farms that already use the method.

In the coming years, the cooperation with GEH will be used to develop a targeted support for farms that work with old and endangered breedsshall be reached.

We can support project farms in the following areas: Mating advice, selection of breeding animals, management recommendations for challenges in keeping horn-bearing herds, calculation of inbreeding coefficients, triple-A.

In addition to targeted, farm-specific advice, we want to strengthen the networking of farms through events and the establishment of regional working groups.

Contact for this project: Mabelle Tacke:  mabelle.tacke@oekotierzucht.de