Jan Gerdes was a dairy farmer until he had to give up the farm. When his animals were due for slaughter, not all of them fit in the cattle truck so he made a decision. Twelve cows stayed behind and instead of ordering a new truck, Jan and his partner Karin Mück, one of the first animal liberators in Germany, decided to keep the cows on the farm. This was the birth of Hof Butenland - the first cow retirement home in Germany. In the meantime, Mück and Gerdes have created a radical counter-model to farm animal husbandry with their Lebenshof, where the needs of the animals are the focus, far away from any economic interests. "BUTENLAND is not simply an idyll, but resistance with all its consequences. A film that hurts a little, because it makes your own conscience swing." (ZDF heute journal)
An ex-dairy farmer and an animal rights activist start a living farm for cows.
Jan Gerdes was a dairy farmer until he had to give up the farm. When his animals were due for slaughter, not all of them fit in the cattle truck so he made a decision.
Twelve cows stayed behind and instead of ordering a new truck, Jan and his partner Karin Mück, one of the first animal liberators in Germany, decided to keep the cows on the farm. This was the birth of Hof Butenland - the first cow retirement home in Germany.
In the meantime, Mück and Gerdes have created a radical counter-model to farm animal husbandry with their Lebenshof, where the needs of the animals are the focus, far away from any economic interests.
"BUTENLAND is not simply an idyll, but resistance with all its consequences. A film that hurts a little, because it makes your own conscience swing." (ZDF heute journal)