RBST Watchlist 2023: Concern Deepens For UK's Native Pig Breeds

But rare poultry breeds also impacted by recent events

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The future of the UK’s iconic native pig breeds is becoming increasingly insecure in the wake of the wider pig industry crisis, warns the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) as it publishes its new RBST Watchlist.

This year marks 50 years of the charity’s work to save and safeguard the future of rare and native livestock and equine breeds, since RBST was formed in 1973. The RBST Watchlist is the annual situation report for these breeds, reflecting robust measures of the genetic diversity within each breed as well as the numbers of breeding females registered. Check out the full list at www.rbst.org.uk.

The British Landrace pig breed, which was already in the RBST Watchlist’s most urgent Priority category, has seen a dramatic decline with 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. Excellent for bacon production, the British Landrace is the UK cousin of the European Landrace pigs which have long been very influential in the pork industry across the globe.

Other native pig breeds which are cause for concern include:

• British Saddleback pig, which is seeing a continued trend of falling numbers of registered animals.
• Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, which now has the lowest number of breeders registering progeny since 2000.
• Oxford Sandy & Black pig, which has seen the number of dams producing pedigree progeny fall 32% since 2020, and
• Middle White dams producing registered progeny, has fallen to its second lowest number since 2001.