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Short abstract:

This article explores how cattle farming practices are rethought in light of ecological concerns. Based on ethnographic research with agroecological farmers and researchers in the field of cattle genetics and breeding, it analyzes practices of (re)making biodiversity and infrastructures.

Long abstract:

Most of the Netherlands’ land is dedicated to highly productive agricultural land. Researchers note (Sanders et al. 2019) that the intensification of agricultural production in recent decades has led to a decrease in biodiversity. Amidst concerns about the environmental effects of livestock farming, intensive cattle farming has become increasingly contentious. Based on ethnographic research with a group of researchers in the field of breeding and genetics, and with farmers that perceive themselves as ‘agroecological’, this paper focuses on the attempt to shift to a more sustainable, circular, and ecological way of farming. Knowledge about metabolic relations within agroecological farming is still lacking and so the farmers and researchers experiment with how to (re)make biodiversity within agricultural infrastructures, and how to take care of the animals and their lands. They for example are getting rid of pesticides, fertilizers, concentrated feed, and antibiotics, and are planting vegetation on the land to stimulate biodiversity. Furthermore, they seek animals attuned to these farming practices, especially by choosing ‘double purpose’ breeds. To ensure that they can continue farming financially, they are also experimenting with novel economic models for farming. Next to exploring these experimental practices, this paper also analyses varying ways in which the farmers and researchers aim to include ‘nature’ or ‘biodiversity’ in farming practices, and how they see the future of cows within these systems.