Sustainable cattle breeding: Austria drastically lowers methane emissions!

Sustainable cattle breeding: Austria drastically lowers methane emissions!

In Austria, cattle breeding and agriculture are under the pressure to reduce its ecological footprint. With the “Breed4Green” project in cattle breeding, a new approach is pursued to continue to minimize methane emissions. According to [ots.at] (https://www.ots.at/presseaus-sung/ots_20250618_ots0229/wie-die- Rinderwirtschaft-mulfreundliche-Werd), this project of cattle breeding Austria aims to give more milk through targeted breeding of cows and live longer to reduce emissions significantly.

A decline of around a third of the greenhouse gas emissions in milk production has already been recorded. The cattle breeding Austria represents around 21,000 cattle breeding companies and also urges companies throughout the sector to actively contribute to improving sustainability. An example of this is the Fleckvieh operation of the Kloibhofer family in Pabneukirchen, which uses the digital platform "Neu.Rind" to check and optimize its sustainability practices.

challenges in agriculture

Agriculture does not only face challenges in Austria. According to the [Federal Environment Agency] (https://www.umweltbundamt.de/daten/land-forstwirtschaft/beiT-der-grandwirtschaft-zu-den-breibhaus gas), the greenhouse gas emissions of agriculture make up a significant part of the national overall emissions. In 2024 there were a total of 53.7 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, which makes 8.2 % of all greenhouse gases.

The methane emissions that come from agriculture are particularly problematic. The main part of these emissions takes place through digestive processes in cattle as well as through the treatment and storage of fermentation. The development of more sustainable methods for cattle farming is therefore crucial to further reduce emissions.

The way to a more environmentally friendly cattle economy

The cattle breeders' initiatives go hand in hand with the demands of society to an environmentally friendly production. Molcanizations are asked not only to develop more sustainable practices in animal husbandry, but also to make their packaging more environmentally friendly and use short transport routes. These demands are part of a trend in society as a whole, which also shows in the future topics of "land and people", where, for example, innovative approaches to sustainable agriculture are discussed.

However,

The challenges are enormous, and various reports, including the bauernverband.de, underline that agriculture and climate change are interwoven. While emissions from the energy sector can be reduced by alternative energies, agriculture often lacks simple solutions to reduce emissions.

In summary, it can be said that a transformation of cattle breeding in a more environmentally friendly direction is not only necessary, but also possible. Coordinated projects such as "BREED4GREEN" are asked to actively participate in farmers, scientists and the entire industry to participate and find innovative solutions in order to minimize the ecological footprint of cattle farming.

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OrtPabneukirchen, Österreich
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