Jimmy's Farm Ipswich hosts Rare Breeds Survival Trust dinner

The RBST was at Jimmy's Farm at Wherstead, near Ipswich, on Friday, September 1, with invited guests to celebrate 50 years since it was formed. 

Native and rare breeds are among a host of animals now housed at the Jimmy's Farm attraction, which was created by TV celebrity Jimmy Doherty. 

Mr Doherty was made president of the RBST in 2017 and in 2021, Jimmy's Farm became the first recipient of the RBST's Rare Breeds Approved Associate accreditation.

Among the guests were environment secretary Thérèse Coffey, who said she was "impressed" with Jimmy Doherty's passion for the subject.

Guests were told about the inroads made by the "Suffolk trinity" of Red Poll cattle, Suffolk Sheep and Suffolk Punch heavy horses after many years in decline.

The rapid loss of many of the UK's native breeds followed changes in the most-sought after animal characteristics and the scaling up of farm operations.

This included ramping up of mechanisation in farming during the post-war era and a move towards very large, Continental breeds of cattle.

But with a number of butchers favouring smaller carcases and moves towards more sustainable farming methods, the tide may be turning for some breeds at least, the gathering heard.

Mr Doherty said his business started 21 years ago with a mission to save rare breed pigs.

These animals were just as important as rare paintings at the National Gallery, he suggested.

Watching the RBST grow over the years was "absolutely wonderful", he added.

Barrie Turner of the Suffolk Sheep Society, Ray Bowler of the Red Poll Cattle Society and Gail Sprake of the Suffolk Horse Society gave guests an overview of how each of the breeds was faring now and the news was generally good. 

Christopher Price, chief executive of the RBST, explained that many once "rare" breeds threatened with extinction were no longer considered at risk with a number of native breeds thriving. He explained that his charity was there to "conserve and promote native livestock".

He pointed out that these breeds were "designed to be here" and were therefore compatible with the country's climate and landscapes.

"They don't need huge amounts of supplementary feed," he said. "They work here - it makes sense to keep them."

The animals were also part of the culture, heritage and history of counties and regions - as well as the UK as a whole, he said. 

But there were obstacles to keeping them. One was a lack of abattoirs which is an issue the charity is campaigning to improve. It also wants to see carcase grading revised - which it argues discriminates against UK native breeds as it is based on size, not taste.

It also wants to see native livestock and equines recognised as part of the UK's biodiversity and national heritage.

The speakers took part in a question-and-answer session with questions from the floor.

Mr Bowler said with a herd book started in 1874, Red Poll was nearly the oldest cattle breed. "If you look back through those books, the animals there and the animals now are virtually the same," he said.

Numbers plummeted in the early 80s to just 200 females which was "really worrying", he said, but the breed is now firmly off the critical list. "We have now got about 4,800 breeding females," he said.

He added that it was a true dual purpose breed which did remarkably well on lower quality forage. Now reared almost exclusively for beef - it was re-emerging as a niche dairy cow in other parts of the country such as Oxfordshire and Wales although not yet in Suffolk, the audience heard.  

Mr Turner said his society had seen numbers fall in recent times. He felt the quality of lamb sold in shops had fallen since the days when most of the meat going through abattoirs was Suffolk Sheep-sired.

When he talked to processors, they wanted smaller back ends and he hoped this might be translated into a change in attitudes throughout the supply chain.

The Suffolk breed had a number of advantages including resistance to disease, he added.

Ms Sprake said Suffolk horses were the oldest heavy horse and at one time the most prolific. Before World War Two 6,000 were registered.

While numbers fell drastically when mechanised farm machines took over, the breed's fortunes revived and the society now has 1,000 members, with 135 registered horse breeders.

Ms Coffey said there was support for rare breeds available through one of the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) options.

And with changes in farming methods, the UK was now seeing a move towards more multi-purpose cattle offering an opportunity for native breeds, she added.

"I think keeping them alive is really important. Obviously a lot more work can be done on genetics and that's obviously something we want to try and continue to support. There have been a variety of things which we think will help smaller breeds."

After the event, Mr Price said many dedicated RBST members, volunteers and supporters across the East of England have been key to the trust’s success over the past five decades.

"The contribution of smallholders, farmers and supporters here remains fantastic at a time when native breeds can really come into their own for farming and environmental land management," he said.

“Jimmy Doherty and the team at Jimmy’s Farm continue to do invaluable work for the future of some of the UK’s rarest breeds of livestock and equines.

"We were proud to mark this milestone with this wonderful evening at Jimmy’s Farm, bringing together farmers, land managers, butchers, restaurateurs, influencers and decision makers to celebrate the UK’s native breeds and to discuss the important roles they have in meeting the modern and future needs of food, farming and the environment.”