A view from the festival (From Smallholder)

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust at the Royal Welsh Spring Festival

11:02am Thursday 12th January 2012 in News

Between 1900 and 1973, 26 native breeds of livestock in the United Kingdom became extinct and the rare breeds Survival Trust was formed to prevent this ever happening again. Rare breeds are slower growing than commercial animals and are therefore regarded as less suitable for intensive farming systems. It is extremely important that RBST makes sure these animals are conserved; these breeds will be essential in the future as genetic resources and as part of our agricultural heritage. Smallholders and smaller farms therefore play an integral role in the survival and continued growth of our rare breeds. For this very reason the Smallholders show has become one of our most important and favourite shows of the year.

A trust spokesman said that they aim to inform visitors to the Smallholders show about different aspect of rare breeds and smallholding each year.

In 2011 their stand focused on breeds from our watchlist native to Wales. They had Welsh pigs and Hill Radnor sheep alongside Cotswold sheep from the largest flock in Wales.

This allowed visitors to see a variety of breeds from Wales they could directly help.

In February next year they will be launching their watchlist for 2012. They will also be producing a list of domestic waterfowl breeds that are native and at risk.

To celebrate and promote these breeds the trust hopes to have two pens on their stand dedicated to some of the breeds listed, one containing ducks such as the Aylesbury and the other with geese such as the Brecon Buff. The trust would like to source birds from local fanciers or breeders to show the breeds that are available in the area.

If you would like them to display your birds please contact the office or Richard Broad, our field officer who covers Wales and Southern England.

A selection of staff will be on hand to answer all your questions and give you advice if needed so make sure you pay them a visit if you are new to smallholding or rare breeds.

To contact the RBST, registered charity number 269442 contact 02476 696551 or e-mail: enquiries@rbst.org.uk. Alternativley call Richard Broad on 07772007399 or e-mail him at r.broad@rbst.org.uk