Animals

The growth in world population and the rising demand for foods based on animal protein are placing great demands on livestock research. For this reason the animal innovation group has begun its work under the leadership of Prof. Dr Manfred Schwerin. Its tasks include the identification of future spheres of activity and strategic measures in the field of livestock research. It would also like to draw up recommendations to improve the parameters for research, technological developments, and the introduction of new products onto the market. Livestock research and production is linked to other scientific and technological fields within the bio-economy, such as food, feed and process technologies, biotechnology, food and health security, and biodiversity.

The animals work group’s agenda covers the following core subjects:

• Systemic livestock research (including aquacultures) – the pre-requisite for the sustainable production of animal-based foodstuffs:
  • Resource- and environmentally-friendly, as well as humane production and use of animal products
  • Efficiency and mechanisms of competition (e.g. competition for land use, investments, value chains etc.)
  • Positioning, networking, study and training programmes
• Strategic partnerships (international competitiveness of German livestock research)
• Social acceptance and demands with regard to production and the use of animal products (including animal protection, animal welfare and cloning)
• Political and legal parameters of animal production both at a national and global level

The work group consists of BioEconomyCouncil members and outside experts.

Spokesman for the plant innovation work group

• Prof. Dr Manfred Schwerin
  Professor of animal breeding, Rostock University, and Chairman of the Research Institute for the Biology of Agricultural Livestock Dummersdorf

Members of the BioEconomyCouncil

• Dr Helmut Born, Association of German Farmers
• Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Thomas C. Mettenleiter
  President of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute Riems, Federal Institute of Animal Health
• Dr Christian Patermann
  Advisor on knowledge-based bio-economy to the Land of North-Rhine Westphalia

Outside experts

• Prof. Dr Alfons Balmann
  Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO)
• Prof. Dr Markus Rodehutscord
  Institute of Animal Nutrition, Hohenheim University
• Prof. Dr Hermann Swalve
  Professor of Animal Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle–Wittenberg
• Prof. Dr Friedhelm Taube
  Institute of Crop Farming and Plant Breeding, Kiel University

Contact at the BioEconomyCouncil office

Dr Katja Leicht, academic staff member