“Species-appropriate, Environmentally sound, Accepted – Thought-Provoking Concepts for Sustainable Livestock Farming” – this is the title of a presentation which took place at the end of September in the DBU Environmental Communication Center (see “DBU aktuell” 10/14, page 4). DBU General Secretary Dr. Heinrich Bottermann opened by referring to numerous efforts to contain and limit the problematic aspects of large-scale livestock farming through laws and regulations. Nonetheless, it is a fact that this form of animal farming has, rather, increased in recent years for cows, pigs and fowl, especially in certain regions. Simultaneously, the consumer has continued to opt, as a rule, for lower-priced meats at the butcher’s counter, which has encouraged this trend.
DBU head Dr. Bottermann and DBU division leader Prof. Dr. Werner Wahmhoff pointed out that large-scale meat production in its current form has a multiplicity of effects on environment and health, and is often approached critically on the basis of animal protection. From a worldwide perspective as well: in order to bring the goals of “nutritional safety” and “environmental protection” into compatibility over the long term, agriculture in general must become more sustainable. Thus the DBU is attempting, by means of concrete grant projects such as the sustainability evaluation system REPRO, and a project on assessing the sustainability of plants at which beef cattle are kept, to develop criteria for a sustainable animal husbandry and integrated plant production.
