2015 to 2016: Hesse brings the discussion to federal politics

A few days after the publication of the report, a conference of agriculture ministers takes place in Hesse. The state of Hesse submits a motion to the conference to abandon year-round tethering within twelve years.

Although the motion finds broad approval, it does not pass. The state of Bavaria wants to preserve tie-stall housing and the motion would have needed the approval of all the states (7).

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The former Minister President of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, is not dissuaded from the plan and introduces a motion to the Federal Council at the end of 2015. As at the Conference of Agriculture Ministers, the state of Hesse calls for a ban on tethering cattle all year round with a transitional period of twelve years (8). In April 2016, the Federal Council approves the motion by a large majority, thus passing the ball on to the Federal Government (9).

The Federal Government responded three months later by rejecting the motion. It fears that a ban would place a considerable burden on small and medium-sized (part-time) farms. It also criticizes the fact that the ban would have been drafted without specifying the permissible types of husbandry. Moreover, a comprehensive impact evaluation would be missing (10).

In the following years, various parties call for the ban on year-round tethering. In September 2016, for example, various members of parliament and the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group tabled a motion to ban year-round tethering, as "this husbandry system does not represent animal-friendly housing due to the immense restriction of basic needs (movement, exploration, social behavior, etc.) and contradicts Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act" (11). In a statement, the Federal Veterinary Surgeons' Association expresses its disappointment about the reaction of the Federal Government (12).

2018: Conflicts of interest in the industry

In 2018, southern German dairy associations publish a declaration calling for the ban on year-round tethering by 2030. At the end of the year, milch.bayern e.V., a voluntary association of the Bavarian milk and dairy industry, joins the demand (13).

In summer 2018, the German Federation of Rural Youth association publishes a position paper in which they oppose the future viability of tie-stall housing. They propose a ban with a five-year transition period for year-round tethering and ten years for seasonal tethering (14).  

The German Farmers' Association puts pressure on the youth organization, whereupon it withdraws the position paper. The pressure from outside moves two people on the federal board of the youth organization to give up their voluntary positions (15).

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At the end of 2018, Alliance 90/The Greens will introduce a motion to the Federal Parliament to implement animal welfare without delay. They call on the federal government to ban the tethering of cattle all year round. The proposal is rejected (16).  

Also at the end of the year, the Thünen Institute publishes a paper on the "Impact evaluation of a ban on tethering dairy cows all year round". The publication, commissioned by the German Agriculture Ministry, puts the cost of transition at 287 million euro. Various funding programs would have to compensate for this sum.

The accelerated structural change would not be so easy to absorb. However, the Thünen Institute sees long transition periods, funding programs and hardship provisions as suitable measures to ensure a socially acceptable transition (17).

2019 to 2020: The seasonal tethering as a new solution

After the Bavarian Farmers' Association once again spoke out against a deadline for a ban on tethering at the beginning of 2019 (18), it is trying to find what it sees as a suitable solution together with the dairies in southern Germany (19).  

In a joint press release, they say that "animal welfare in dairy farming" must be expanded in order to ensure social acceptance. On the other hand, the "dairy location" of Bavaria, including the "smaller, family-run farms", must be protected. In addition to loose housing, they also see so-called combination husbandry (Kombinationshaltung) as viable for the future (20).

In July 2019, milch.bayern e.V. and representatives of agriculture in Bavaria present a description of the so-called combination husbandry that they have developed. It is to be "concrete, practical and sustainable" in order to secure Bavaria as a "dairy location". The paper focuses primarily on the amount of exercise the cows should be allowed and the "plus in animal welfare" (21).

Tie-stall housing is particularly widespread in the Bavarian Alps. At the beginning of 2020, the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen wants to have its cultural landscape protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (22). In the application, they explicitly classify the tethering of cattle as a cultural heritage worthy of protection.

After numerous media take up this issue (23), the term "tethering" disappears from the text. The original text mentions the "preservation of the combination husbandry of farm animals (tethering with grazing)" as a key issue. In the new version, it only says the "preservation of the combination husbandry of farm animals with grazing".

This supposedly sounds better, but means the same thing. Because "combination husbandry" is nothing other than "tethering" with occasional free range.

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2020: A new attempt at the federal level

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In February 2020, the "Committee for Agricultural Policy and Consumer Protection" of the Federal Council recommends to clarify more precisely the keeping of cattle older than six months (24). The Federal Council should prohibit all-year tethering in the new regulation and define the so-called “combination husbandry” more precisely. Thus, tethering of cattle over six months of age would be legalized for the first time (25).

The Federal Council takes the decision on the change of the regulation off the agenda twice at short term (26). It will not negotiate it until the third attempt in July 2020. The ban on tethering cattle all year round is rejected. However, this also does not legalize temporary tethering (27).

2021: Will the Green Minister of Agriculture bring the long-awaited ban?

In November 2021, the governing coalition between Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) publishes their coalition agreement. In it, the governing parties intend to "end tethering in ten years at the latest" (28). They do not define their intention more precisely.

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This announcement is causing uncertainty In Bavaria. Members of parliament from the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Free Voters have submitted an emergency motion to the Bavarian state government. In the motion, they call on it to exert pressure at the federal level so that the announced ban on tethering is applied only to year-round tethering and not to seasonal tethering.

The Bavarian delegates justify their request with the fact that the small farms, which allow cattle outdoors temporarily, preserve the cultural landscape of Bavaria. In addition, around 10,000 farmers would have to close their farms if tethering were banned, they argue (29).  

In the vote on the emergency motion there are no no-votes. The representatives of the other groups, including the representatives of the Greens, abstained from voting (30). This demonstrates how politically explosive the subject of tie-stall housing is in Bavaria.

Members of Parliament at the federal level are also concerned about the possible ban on tethering. The Party “National Alternative for Germany” (AfD) is asking the federal government in a brief inquiry to specify the requirement in the coalition agreement in more detail. The question is intended to clarify whether "combination husbandry" should also be banned and what the consequences of this ban would be (31).

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The question triggers a public outrage, as the government's answer remains very vague: "The examination of the concrete implementation of the ban on tethering has not yet been completed" says the Federal Government's answer. The Federal Government does not have any differentiated information on the ecological, economic and structural consequences of a ban on tethering (32).

To date, there is no information on how the ban on tethering will continue. In July 2022, the Minister of Agriculture Özdemir only states that year-round tethering must be abolished and that "combination husbandry" is "interesting". The regulations will still be made in this legislative period, according to Özdemir (33).

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2019 to 2022: Courts and food retailers show more rigorous action

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While politicians act in their usual hesitant and sluggish manner, courts decide on the basis of existing laws that year-round tethering is not a viable husbandry practice.

In May 2019, the Lüneburg Administrative Court rules that 34 beef cattle on a farm may not be kept in year-round tethered conditions. The reasoning is that this husbandry does not comply with the animal welfare requirements under §2 No.1 German Animal Welfare Act (34). The paragraph regulates the general requirements for species- and need-appropriate nutrition, care and housing.

In another case at the end of 2019, the Münster Administrative Court comes to the conclusion that tethering animals all year round is contrary to animal welfare (35). The reason is a farmer who, despite the possibility, does not allow the cows on his farm to go outside. The court decides that tethered cattle must have daily access to open-air runs, at least in summer (36).

The farmer appeals against the ruling (37) and loses this case in February 2022. The Münster Administrative Court decides that the tethered systems that are currently still in place can only be tolerated if the tethered cattle are allowed free exercise for at least two hours every day (38), (39).

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The food retail sector is no longer waiting for politicians to make demands in order to meet the wishes of their consumers and thus secure their profits. Since 2021, several German companies have been labeling their own milk brands with the "No tethering" label.

The Bavarian Milk Producers Association is concerned that this label will further weaken milk from "legally permitted farming methods", and that also means tethering (40).  

At the beginning of 2022, the food retail sector will begin to label milk and dairy products with a four-level husbandry label (41). "Husbandry type 1" offers the worst, "Husbandry type 4" the slightly better husbandry conditions. From the second husbandry level, year-round tethering is prohibited.

At the same time, several companies announce that they will switch completely to drinking milk produced at least in the second husbandry level during the course of the year (42), (43).

The food retailer Aldi goes one step further and announces that from 2024 it will only sell milk from husbandry levels three and four (44). This not only puts a stop to year-round tethering, but also to combined farming. In this consequent approach, Aldi has quite a bit ahead of politics. However, legislative prohibitions are needed for a sustainable improvement for cattle, as the guidelines of the LEH can be quickly withdrawn.

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2023: There is slow progress in the right direction

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At the end of March, a legal opinion commissioned by Greenpeace causes a stir across Germany. The report examines animal welfare deficits in the keeping of cows in the dairy industry. The authors come to the conclusion that tethering can constitute animal cruelty in individual cases, but in any case violates central requirements of the German Animal Welfare Act (45).

Tethering is frequently discussed in various federal states in spring 2023. An inquiry to the Bavarian state parliament revealed that around 10,000 Bavarian farms were operating with year-round tethering in 2020. At the end of March, the Bavarian state parliament plenary rejected an amendment to the 2023 budget proposed by the Green Party. The plan was to provide ten million euros for the advisory campaign "Ways out of tethering - for loose housing, pasture, fattening" to support farms in switching to loose housing or pasture farming (46), (47).

The Green Party in Bavaria submits an application for an "Advisory campaign for dairy farms with year-round tethering" again in mid-May (48). The motion is rejected (49).

In April, in response to the legal opinion commissioned by Greenpeace, the CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate asks the state government to report on the current situation of tethering in the state and to classify the opinion (50).

In mid-May, Agriculture Minister Daniela Schmitt explained: "Tethering massively restricts the cows' movement and thus their natural behavior. This almost completely suppresses the normal behavior of cattle. If this restriction takes place over a longer period of time or even throughout the year, this form of husbandry is particularly stressful for the animals concerned." In Rhineland-Palatinate, there are just over 10,000 stands in tie-stalls on 425 farms. Agriculture Minister Schmitt has clear words on the husbandry method: "Tethering dairy cows is not an animal-friendly form of husbandry and is therefore rightly rejected by science and society" (51).

Also in mid-May, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an opinion stating that the tethering of cows is unacceptable from an animal welfare perspective. Therefore, year-round tethering should be banned immediately and temporary tethering should be banned after a transitional period (52).

At the end of May, it becomes known that the draft bill contains a ban on year-round tethering from 2028. Combined husbandry remains permitted and is to be regulated by law for the first time and thus legitimized It is not yet clear whether the draft will be implemented in this way.

The announcement of the ban on year-round tethering is causing a lot of excitement, especially in Bavaria. Bavarian Agriculture Minister Kaniber (CSU) is outraged and is calling for transition aid instead of bans (55).

At the beginning of August, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder takes a clear stance on combined farming as part of the election campaign for the upcoming state elections in Bavaria in the fall of 2023. This form of husbandry is particularly necessary in regions with alpine pastures, according to Söder. Federal Agriculture Minister Özdemir, on the other hand, sees combined husbandry primarily as a transitional solution (56).

In mid-September, Jens Bülte, Professor of Criminal Law, Johanna Hahn, PhD in Criminal Law, and Josef Troxler, Professor of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, publish an article entitled "Tethering - Not a legal gray area, but an illegal routine". In it, they write that tethering is not compatible with Paragraph 2 of the German Animal Welfare Act. An explicit ban on tethering would therefore only be an invitation to apply the law already in force (57).

In October, the Brandenburg state parliament discusses tethering. In 2020, the proportion of tethering in the state was low. Two percent of the stalls where cattle were kept were in tethered stalls (58).

The coalition agreement for the Bavarian state government is published at the end of October. It states that "we firmly reject a ban on tethered housing or a restriction on combined housing on dairy farms" (59). However, this is only a position of the Bavarian coalition, as the federal government is responsible for formulating the animal welfare regulations.

Just a few days later, the Bavarian Farmers' Association launches the petition "Save Berta from the slaughterhouse and small farmers from the end!". In it, the farmers' association criticizes the federal government's planned ban on tethering. It is calling for an extended transition period. According to current information, a transitional period of five years is currently planned. The association also advocates that combined husbandry should also be possible in the future (60).

In mid-November, 20 animal welfare organizations write an open letter to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They address the protracted process surrounding the amendment of the Animal Welfare Act and criticize that "the draft has been stuck in departmental coordination for some time". The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, which is currently led by the FDP, "recently objected to the initiation of the consultation with the federal states and associations and has now been blocking further proceedings for over a month". The organizations emphasize how important it is to finally submit the draft amendment in order to enable several planned regulations, which were planned after the amendment to the Animal Welfare Act, to be passed in this legislative period (61).

2023 is characterized above all by the fact that the draft bill to amend the German Animal Welfare Act has been in internal coordination for months. The negotiation processes are dragging on. The scientific study situation and current animal welfare assessments speak in favor of the end of tethering.

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Take away

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The chronology shows that the agricultural lobby is holding politicians back from consequently implementing a ban on tie-stall housing. Although animal protection organizations and society have shown resistance to this form of husbandry, which is contrary to animal welfare, for decades.

After decades of discussion, it was recently decided in Austria that the ban on all-year tethering is to be implemented without exception from 2030. In Germany, there is still no concrete perspective on a ban. In both countries it looks as if "combination husbandry" will continue to be allowed.

Due to the announced ban on tethering in ten years in the coalition agreement, there is movement in the discussion again. This is the moment for animal protection organizations to become increasingly active again. Now it is important to exert pressure so that not only year-round, but also seasonal tethering is banned - now and not in ten years!