The conservation of endangered livestock breeds is complemented by the cryoconservation of semen, oocytes, embryos and somatic cells in the German Genebank of Farm Animals. Cryoconservation is carried out primarily as a supplement to on-farm conservation.

The German Genebank of Farm Animals was established on January 1, 2016. In addition to the Federal government, the Federal States, with the exception of Bavaria, and the city states of Bremen and Hamburg are partners in this federal-state agreement.

The office of the genebank is located at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut in Mariensee, Germany. The Information and Coordination Center for Biological Diversity (IBV) is responsible for the documentation of the stored material.