The future of the UK’s iconic native pig breeds is becoming increasingly insecure in the wake of the wider pig industry crisis.
This is the warning from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) as it publishes its new RBST Watchlist today (Thursday, April 20).
The Watchlist is the annual situation report for rare and native livestock and equine breeds, reflecting robust measures of the genetic diversity within each breed as well as the numbers of breeding females registered.
The British Landrace pig breed, which was already in the RBST Watchlist’s most urgent Priority category, has seen a dramatic decline.
There are just 23 dams producing pedigree progeny in 2022, down from 43 in 2021.
This compares with 495 dams registered in 2006. These very low numbers are in stark contrast to the 1970s, 80s and 90s when the British Landrace breed expanded rapidly to become one of the UK's most popular breeds of commercial pig.
Other native pig breeds which are cause for concern include the British Saddleback pig, which is seeing a continued trend of falling numbers of registered animals.
The Gloucestershire Old Spot pig now has the lowest number of breeders registering progeny since 2000 and the Oxford Sandy and Black pig has seen the number of dams producing pedigree progeny fall 32 per cent since 2020.
The number of Middle White dams producing registered progeny has fallen to its second lowest number since 2001.
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RBST chief executive, Christopher Price, said: “Many of our native breeds of livestock are seeing renewed interest from farmers and smallholders as great breeds for modern times, they have been bred for UK landscapes and conditions so the right breed in the right place can mean lower costs for premium produce through environmentally sustainable, high welfare farming systems. There is a lot to be positive about as we mark RBST’s 50th year and look to the decades ahead.
“However the crisis in the pig industry over the past two years is driving a very worrying and worsening situation for several of our rare native breeds.
"Fewer people are keeping these breeds now, and the number of new piglet births is falling, too.
"Each of these breeds has unique characteristics, they are part of the UK’s heritage but they also have an important role in food production today and the resilience of our pig industry into the future.
"We are asking government to consider the urgent plight of native breeds as it reviews the pork supply chain, and every single person who chooses native breed produce in a restaurant or at a butchers will be making a real contribution to saving these irreplaceable rare breeds, by supporting the farmers and smallholders working hard to keep and grow their rare breed herds.
“The British Landrace is in a particularly worrying situation. It is a fantastic breed for really high quality bacon and pork production, very easy to manage and excellent for improving other breeds of pig. But it is not as well known as some of our other native pig breeds. We are working with the British Pig Association and the small but dedicated community of British Landrace keepers to make sure the breed’s excellent attributes aren’t overlooked, as well as ramping up support for conservation and breeding programmes.”
The full Watchlist can be found at rbst.org.uk
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