The conservation of endangered livestock breeds is supported by the cryo-conservation of semen, ova, embryos and somatic cells in the German Gene Bank of Farm Animals. Cryo-conservation is primarily carried out as a supplement to on-farm conservation.

The German Gene Bank of Farm Animals was founded on 1 January 2016. In addition to the Federal Government, the federal states, with the exception of Bavaria, and the city-states Bremen and Hamburg are partners in this governmental agreement. The office of the gene bank is located at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute. The IBV is responsible for the documentation of the stored material.