Suffolk's rare breeds farmers hoping for Christmas boost

Now the native animal has become so rare that he keeps 10 Large White sows - just to help keep them going.

Luckily, Suffolk livestock farmers and butchers like Ben and wife Georgina have seen growing demand for rare and native breed meats for the festive table.

As well as diverging from traditional roast turkeys, consumers are looking for quality meats with better eating quality at Christmas.

Conservation charity Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) is urging shoppers to choose rare and native farm animal breeds this Christmas to help preserve them. 

Large Whites - once so common - are now on the RBST Priority Watchlist for 2023-24.

"When I was small they were the predominant breed but all the breeding has changed and they are actually now one of the rarest breeds in the country," explained Ben. 

"We started to keep them because they are so rare. There are only 300 sows left - or something like that."

As well as Large Whites, the Woolfs keep other native breeds - 20 Gloucester Old Spot sows, 50 breeding Red Poll cows and five breeding Shorthorn cows to stock their shop. In all, they have around 140 cattle on their small, 300-acre farm.

The livestock enterprise started when Ben's parents took on some Red Poll cattle. He was with his mother at the Suffolk Show 30 years ago when she got chatting to a breeder and decided to start a herd as they were a nice size - as well as being native to Suffolk.

The next generation of Woolfs added Gloucester pigs because of their good reputation for taste.

Five years ago, Ben and wife Georgina launched a butchery shop at Oak House Farm, Sproughton, near Ipswich, and have never looked back. Last year, they were crowned Pedigree Breeder of the Year at the National Pig Awards.

"The business is going very well at the moment. It's partly interest in locally produced food and people do seem to be more interested in where their food comes from these days," said Ben.

The couple also sell locally-reared turkey, but in December they see three times their normal trade in beef compared to any other time of year.

"People don't all have turkey for Christmas these days. Ribs of beef are popular - or a leg of pork or lamb," said Ben.

"We actually like keeping the native breeds. The farm has always been a native breed farm and in the shop we are looking for consistency."

Chris Reeks of La Hogue Farmshop at Chippenham, near Newmarket, farms sheep at the Euston Estate. As well as commercial breeds such as Texels he keeps some Suffolk Sheep as native sires and some other breeds such as Romney Marsh ewes.  Slower-maturing animals tend to taste far better, he explained.

He and wife Jo also sell Red Poll cattle meat reared by the Euston Estate in their farm shop as well as locally-reared Norfolk Black turkeys.

"We do sell some native and rare breed lambs through the shop because one way or the other I have accumulated them. Some of my breeding stock would be Hill Cheviots. I have got Cheviot ewes I cross with a Texel or Beltex. The reason I keep them is they can cope with poorer ground than commercial breeds," he said.

"The reason that rare and native breeds have become less common is the commercial aspect. They hybrid lots of breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs basically to maximise the growth rates and carcases to get them as fast as they can to keep the costs down.

"The rare and native breeds need to be slower in maturing so they take longer and that's not necessarily cost-effective for the commercial world."

However, with a new emphasis on environmentally-driven farm policy, he feels there may be a renaissance of native breeds on the horizon. "They'll eat stuff that other breeds won't eat," he said.

Red Poll cattle and Suffolk Sheep - which used to be on the RBST at risk list but are now reared in healthier numbers - are among the native breeds which began here. In fact, some of the UK’s rarest livestock breeds originated in East Anglia, according to RBST.

They include Norfolk Horn sheep, Ixworth and Norfolk Grey chickens, Large Black pigs and Norfolk Black turkey. Many more of the UK’s rare native breeds have been reared on farms in Norfolk and Suffolk for generations such as White Park cattle and British Saddleback pigs.

RBST chief executive Christopher Price said: “The UK’s native livestock breeds are a wonderful part of our national heritage and they continue to provide us with fantastic, high-quality and high-welfare local produce. There are all kinds of different tastes and textures, and the festive period is a great time to give native breed produce a try.

“The farmers in Norfolk and Suffolk who keep herds or flocks of rare native breed animals are key to saving these breeds from becoming extinct.

"Every person who buys native breed produce this Christmas will be helping create the vital markets needed for these farmers to carry on this work.

"It’s a great way to enjoy delicious food in the knowledge that you are making a real difference to the survival of these irreplaceable native breeds.”