Walk The Pork - The RBST

It is a matter of great pride that Rob's work is recognised by The Rare Breed Survival Trust. Although we produce 'tiger pigs' which are a cross between a Large Black Sow and a Duroc Boar - finding a way of making this meat palatable for modern tastes means that we have been able to increase the national herd of Large Blacks thus helping to secure their future.

We are very privileged that The RBST Chair, Gail Sprake agreed to speak at Walk The Pork 2014.

'Thank you for the invitation to join you this morning and for giving me the opportunity to talk to you all. It is a privilege to be standing here, witnessing conservation in action.

Conservation is at the heart of what RBST stands for.

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is the leading national charity working to conserve and protect the United Kingdom’s rare native breeds of farm animals from extinction. We rely on the support of our members, the public, corporate sponsors and grants and legacies in order to carry out the vital work we do.

RBST was founded over 40 years ago and since then no breed of British farm livestock has become extinct.

The picture was not so rosy in the first 73 years of the 20^th century - breeds such as the Lincolnshire Curley Coated pig, the Small White and the Dorset Gold Tip pig breeds, Glamorgan cattle, Limestone sheep, the Suffolk Dun cow, all these breeds are consigned to the history books and their genetics are lost - for ever. They cannot be re-created, and once they are gone, they are gone. The UK has a rich and diverse heritage of native breeds across all species, more than any other European country - we have nearly 60 livestock breeds currently on our Watch List, and 74 native poultry breeds listed as at risk. That makes a total of over 130 native breeds at risk from extinction.

In 1973 when the Trust was formed, the Large Black pig was immediately placed on the Trust’s Watch List as a “critical” breed. Today, 41 years later, the breed remains on our Watch List and numbers have increased, with approximately 200 - 300 breeding females in the national herd.

That’s good news, but there is no room for complacency.

Our vision is to secure the continued existence and viability of the UK’s native farm animal genetic resources. We promote knowledge and the keeping of rare and native breeds, we monitor breeding populations, we work alongside the government’s Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) committee, we support and participate in research, and most importantly, we maintain and develop our Gene Bank of rare native breeds. The National Gene Bank contains genetic material from all of the rare breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and equines on the RBST Watch List.

We aim to educate our farmers and livestock keepers as to the benefits of rare breeds.

We work with partnership organisations such as Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts, most recently in the Coronation Meadows Project launched by HRH The Prince of Wales who is Patron of all three organisations, to restore wildflower meadows to the British landscape to mark the 60^th Anniversary of the Coronation. RBST takes every opportunity to emphatically reiterate that these wildlife meadows need grazing animals and the two are intrinsically linked. It is the rich diversity of our native breeds of farm livestock that have shaped the landscape we see today.

The Brecks is a classic example of this - the flat, free draining, predominantly arable land  provides an ideal environment for outdoor pig production, and grazing animals. One of our rarest native sheep breeds, the Norfolk Horn, is indigenous to this region, and when the Trust was formed in 1973 there were only 9 Norfolk Horn sheep remaining. I am pleased to say that today the breed is in better shape and listed in Category 4, At Risk, on the Watch List with 900-1500 breeding females. At the local Wayland Show in Watton last month there was a line up of 14 shearling ewes in one class, testament to the hard work and dedication of our Norfolk breeders who are passionate about our local breed.

Passionate is the description that is totally apt when one considers keepers and breeders of rare breeds. But these animals are not museum pieces, they are part of our farming way of life, and a sustainable farming future and we have to use them, or lose them.

Sarah and Robert are a great example to all keepers of rare breeds - they have taken one of our oldest pig breeds, risen to the challenge of sustainable farming, and guaranteed a future for this breed by using it. They have successfully educated the market to the superior eating qualities of our traditional native breeds.

I’d like to conclude by sharing one final thought with you - the media reported last week on comments made by the US Ambassador to Britain, Matthew Barzun, when asked by Tatler to describe his ideal dinner party dish. He responded by saying “I’ll tell you what I would not serve - lamb and potatoes. I must have had lamb and potatoes 180 times since I have been here. There are limits and I have reached them”. I would have to say to Mr Barzun that it could not have been native breed lamb, thoughtfully reared, knowledgeably produced and carefully prepared.

Whether it is pork, beef, lamb or mutton, the flavour, taste and eating quality of our native breeds is beyond compare. As livestock keepers, we have to share the passion demonstrated by Sarah, Robert and their family; we have to eat them to keep them, or, use them or lose them.