Young breeding manager Irlbacher brings a breath of fresh air to dairy cattle breeding!

Young breeding manager Irlbacher brings a breath of fresh air to dairy cattle breeding!

There are fresh changes in cattle breeding in the heart of Bavaria. The Upper Palatinate Cattle Breeding Association (RZO) has a new state breeding manager in Lukas Irlbacher. The 27-year-old from the Schwandorf district received his certificate of appointment from Dr. Christoph Härle, head of department in the Bavarian State Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism (STMELFT). You can immediately see that young minds are going full steam ahead here!

Irlbacher succeeds Dr. Thomas Nibler, who has now taken over the office of head of the authority at AELF Cham. As breeding manager, Irlbacher is responsible for the planning, implementation and monitoring of dairy cattle breeding in the Upper Palatinate - a task that not only challenges him, but can also bring new perspectives for the region.

Background and expertise

But who is this Lukas Irlbacher? He grew up on a dairy and breeding farm; his father is even an advisory board member of the RZO. With a master's degree in agricultural sciences from the Technical University of Munich and the successful completion of his legal clerkship in 2022, Irlbacher brings with him a solid education. He also passed the state exam in spring 2024. Most recently, he worked as a consultant at the AELF Tirschenreuth-Weiden and taught at the Weiden-Almesbach Higher Agricultural School. Someone has a good knack for breeding!

Head of the authority Helmut Melchner praised Irlbacher's extensive knowledge and emphasized the importance of his role. As a breeding manager, his work includes, among other things, the development of breeding goals, the selection and evaluation of breeding animals, and close cooperation with breeders and other organizations. The goals are clearly defined: efficient, healthy and economical dairy farming in the region.

Sustainable breeding programs and animal welfare

A central aspect of Irlbacher's work will be the breeding of Simmental cattle, which are known not only for their milk production but also for their meat quality. The breeding program focuses on the dual use of milk and meat and attaches great importance to the robustness and fitness of the animals. The overall economic breeding value defines the goals in relation to the breed profile, which means that milk, meat and fitness traits must be in balance. The aim is to increase the animals' lifetime production and improve their fitness and health characteristics so that the animals remain healthy for as long as possible and achieve an average lifetime production of over 30,000 kg of milk.

The developments in Bavarian cattle breeding are not the only focus of the RZO. The Bavarian Meat Cattle Association with around 1,000 member companies is also an active player in this area. The office in Ansbach has been the center of Bavarian beef cattle breeding since 1997 and offers numerous events from breeding cattle markets to animal shows and training courses. Here, too, a lot of passion is put into the work to advance breeding and the welfare of the animals.

With Lukas Irlbacher at the helm, it will be exciting to see how milk and meat production develops throughout the region. There is definitely something going on for local agriculture!

Further information about cattle breeding and the latest developments can be found on the website of the Upper Palatinate Cattle Breeding Association oberpfalz24.de, the Simmental cattle breeding program rinderzucht-bb.de and the Bavarian Beef Cattle Association fvb-bayern.de.