Western Morning News (Saturday)
West leading way with rare breeds
Support is gaining ground, says Christopher Price , CEO of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust
SOUTH West England has long been home to some of the rarest livestock and equine breeds in the UK, including the Devon and Cornwall Longwool, Greyface Dartmoor, Whiteface Dartmoor and Devon Closewool breeds of sheep, and the British Lop and Large Black breeds of pig.
Both the Dartmoor and Exmoor Pony breeds also feature on our RBST Watchlist too.
Despite the disruptions of 2020, plenty of fantastic work has been taking place at farms and smallholdings across the South West, day in and day out, to help ensure that these breeds with such illustrious pasts can survive long into the future too.
In November we announced the Old English Goat will be added to the RBST Watchlist, which reports on native breeds’ vulnerability. This marks the start of new RBST support in conjunction with the Old English Goat Society.
One of the largest remaining Old English Goat herds in the UK resides at Temple Farm in North Devon, where the hardy goats live totally outdoors. By using these native animals in the way they’ve been used for hundreds of years, Temple Farm is seeing the benefits of conservation grazing, habitat creation and self-sufficient dairy production, at the same time as having a really meaningful impact on the breed’s survival.
Another highlight of the year for me has been our work to take the unique qualities and histories of Devon and Cornwall Longwools, Greyface Dartmoors and Whiteface Dartmoors to new audiences this year through the RBST Love a Longwool campaign. This year has also seen good progress on our major British Lop Project in conjunction with the British Lop Pig Society, Deerpark Pedigree Pigs and other partners. The project, which was launched at Trevaskis Farm in Cornwall in 2019, involves cuttingedge work to collect genetic material to help ensure a future of the British Lop.
RBST recognises excellence in rare breed conservation through the network of RBST Accredited Farm Parks, and we are proud to work alongside the Lost Gardens of Heligan which was awarded RBST accreditation in 2018. This year Heligan has seen plenty of new arrivals through its crucial breeding programmes for rare breeds such as Berkshire pigs, North Devon cattle and Devon Cornwall Longwool sheep.
Looking ahead, in 2021 RBST will be encouraging more farmers and smallholders to ‘Go Native’ with information and advice on the commercial potential that rare breeds can offer. The right policy environment is crucial too, and we were delighted that our work with Government came to fruition this year with support for native breed conservation included within the new Agriculture Act which passed into law in November. But this is just the start and we will continue to work hard to ensure policy encourages the use of native breeds for land management and supports their commercial potential too.
Another area of focus for RBST in 2021 will be the local abattoir network. The South West of England fares better than many other parts of the UK in this regard with several abattoirs spread across the region with the certifications, skills and services that native breed farmers require.
This local availability is a vital asset that must be retained and so we are calling on Government to provide capital support to help small abattoirs adapt for a changing future. In parts of the country where the local abattoir network has already been lost, we are calling for the introduction of pop-up or mobile abattoirs.
This coming year we will also continue to make the case for the use of native equine breeds like Exmoor and Dartmoor ponies for conservation grazing in the UK. We still see imported breeds chosen over native breeds without good reason all too often, and we look forward to working with landowners and environmental organisations to improve understanding of the opportunities presented by our wonderful native breed ponies in this regard.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the RBST’s work this year through their membership, fundraising and donations. I look forward to working with breed societies, smallholders and farmers across South West England in 2021 for the survival of our irreplaceable native breeds.
For further details, please visit the website www.rbst.org,uk
Monday: Judi Spiers on the joys of Christmas lights
AS the world changes, more and more of us are getting creative and starting our own businesses from scratch.
From those making bespoke crafts to sell on Etsy to others selling their wares through eBay or their own websites, there’s a growing range of small traders working across the UK and selling overseas.
But no matter the size of your company, and whether you’re working from home or elsewhere, you need to prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period, as changes are coming very soon.
Sanjay Aggarwal, founder and chief spice officer at Spice Kitchen, explains that sending products to EU countries is a key growth area for his business, so getting it right once the transition period comes to an end is a must.
“We sell from our website as well as via hundreds of retailers in the UK,” says Sanjay, from Widnes in Cheshire. “We manufacture our own spice blends with very high quality ingredients from around the world.
“From online sales we send our products – everything from spices and spice jars to cookware, kebab skewers and cookbooks – everywhere, and that includes countries across the EU.”
And with changes coming in from January 1, 2021, Sanjay and Spice Kitchen have taken steps to get prepared.
“We’ve got our EORI number in
place, which some of the retailers we deal with have asked us for, and we’ve been keeping an eye on the Government website,” he says.
“Customs declarations could come into play for us, with some of the parcels of goods we send to the EU being worth more than £900, so we’ll look at getting a specialist in to help with that, because it’s crucial to our business growth that we get it right.
“We send goods to Northern Ireland as well, so we plan to register for the Trader Support Service to help us deal with changes coming in there.”
We’ll look at specialist help with customs as we need to get it right Sanjay Aggarwal Founder, Spice Kitchen