A Tribute to the Draft Cow

by Claus Kropp of Germany

In my opinion, cattle are the most underrated working animals we have. We must not forget the amazing things they do for us, whether in milk production, as a source of leather and meat, or as a supplier of fertilizer. In addition, draft cattle provide one of the main pillars for securing the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people on this planet with their labor. They are our co-workers and sometimes even our therapists.

Even if we recognize the role that cattle play, there is still one form of use within this animal group that continues to be underestimated, namely the triple purpose use of cows for milk, meat, and labor. In Germany in the 1930s, there were still several million working cows, which were the most important agricultural animals, especially for small farmers. Often, there were not enough resources to work with oxen or even horses, so the cow, which gave the farmer healthy calves and fresh milk, also had to cultivate the fields, bring in the hay, and haul firewood from the forest.

For this reason, veterinary medicine and agricultural research at that time also focused intensively on the question of how much work a cow could be expected to do without compromising its other two uses, especially milk production. Numerous doctoral theses dealt with the enormous workloads that draft cows had to perform for small farmers. The adjustable three pad collar was particularly developed for draft cows during that time. From the farmers’ perspective, the cow quickly became the most important asset on their farms.

In 21st-century Germany, the age of draft animals and small farmers has now been replaced by an age of fossil fuels and industrial agriculture – but there is hope.

Hope not only because in Germany and many other countries there are once again more people who are choosing to work with draft animals and who are rediscovering and learning to appreciate the role of small family farms integrated into a community.

Hope, too, because the tradition of draft cows is also regaining strength. According to a recent survey from 2021 on draft cattle husbandry in Germany, more than 50% of the cattle used are cows. I myself, who milk my two cows by hand, train them as draft animals and will try, through texts like this one, through public educational work and through actual use in the fields, forests, and meadows, to bring draft cows back into focus as what they are: true superheroes of the draft animal world.