Livestock in the Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Association of Pirenaica is outstanding amongst these groups due to its high number of cattle, experience, and genetic advancement of the livestock.

In the 1980s through the 1990s, Basque administration created a plan to eliminate all types of goats in that region for reasons of sanitation and nature preservation; this caused the number of Azpi gorri to decline during that time.

The asno de las Encartaciones, or the donkey of the Enkarterri territory of the province of Vizcaya, has been widely used in farm labor and is almost extinct.

The Caballo de monte del País Vasco, or the mountain horse of the Basque Country, is used for its meat as well as for transportation.

Thirdly, the Pottoka, a native Basque breed of pony, is known for being the subject of cave paintings found in the area from over 30,000 years ago.

Also, breed variations offer diversity in the physical and behavioral traits of the animals, inherently providing a basis for scientific study and representing part of the unique Basque wildlife.

In addition, the number of women in charge increased by about 6%, meaning that by 2009 they made up about one third of all the heads of operation in the Basque Country.

[8] Farmers are generally able to make good use of the natural food sources for livestock, supplementing this with farm resources when necessary.

During warmer times of the season, while dairy sheep and beef cattle are grazing together in mountain pastures, grass is harvested from prairies and is stored for later use during the winter, meaning that farmers can utilize natural local resources more efficiently throughout the entire year.

This lack of physical barriers is generally unproblematic, although the potential utility of fences has been pointed out in cases in which non-agricultural social activities have crossed the boundaries of grazing land.