In Germany half of the farms are specialized in livestock, with the main group (>25%) are dairy farms.  With a production value of about 10.6 milliard Euro (2009) cattle production (milk and beef) contributes about 25 percent to agricultural output in Germany.

Germany is the world´s largest exporter of breeding cattle and one of the leading countries in the export of bovine semen.   Germany has around 12.5 million head of cattle in total, including 4.2 million dairy cows and 0.7 million suckler cows. Germany has the largest dairy cattle herd and the second largest cattle population in the European Union.

In a year, 31.9 billion litres of cow’s milk is produced in Germany. It was the leading dairy market in Europe. The Germany dairy market is expected to continue growing in the forecast period of 2023-2028, aided by the growth in the Europe milk production which is expected to increase annually by 0.7%.  The same year, Germany also contributed to over one-fifth of the total EU milk deliveries.