Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
were not suited to technologically dependent conditions of production. Currently,
over sixty breeds of farm animals in Britain are classed as having 'rare' or 'minority'
status by the RBST on the basis of their pedigree numbers and genetic status. This
applies to 25 per cent of all British sheep breeds, 40 per cent of cattle breeds and 70
per cent of pigs. Since 1973, however, no further breeds have become extinct and
many have actually increased in number (Yarwood and Evans 1998). This can be
largely explained by the significant changes which have occurred in agricultural
modes of production.
By the mid-1980s, persistent encouragement of productivist farming methods
had created a political 'farm crisis' caused by overproduction of foodstuffs, the
immense budgetary costs of agrarian support and environmental damage. These
pressures propelled farmers into a new set of circumstances, known generally but
uncritically as 'post-productivism'. Three central characteristics of this shift in
agrarian priorities away from food production have been evident as 'pluriactivity', a
desire for more environmentally friendly farming and consumer concern over food
quality. Although many rare breeds had no (profitable) purpose within the
productivist era, they have been re-valued and can play important roles within post-
productivism.
First, some farm families become pluriactive through an on-farm economic
diversification into activities such as farm shops or farm-based tourism (Evans and
Ilbery 1993). The keeping of rare breeds has become a major tourist attraction (see
Figure 5.1
). Many rare breeds, by virtue of their present-day scarcity, have 'unusual'
characteristics, such as large horns, capable of attracting paying customers onto the
farm. In other cases, pluriactivity is evident where farm households have become
'part-time', one or more members spending a proportion of their time engaged in
income-earning activities off the farm (Evans and Ilbery 1993). Part-time farm
households value traditional breeds, such as Large Black Pigs, because these animals
can be reared outdoors with minimum supervision in contrast to modern breeds
which require capital- and labour-intensive support systems. Second, rare breeds can
contribute to the wishes of society to create a more sustainable agriculture through
agri-environmental policy (Evans and Morris 1997). They are currently used in the
conservation of certain endangered habitats because they graze differently to modern
animals (Small 1995). Rare breeds also contain unique genetic material which, if
lost, is lost for ever. Their conservation therefore contributes to national and global
biodiversity. Third, although many rare breeds cannot produce the same
quantity
of
food as their modern counterparts, many farmers believe that their produce is
superior. Consequently, some farmers have engaged in the niche marketing of rare
breed food and are keeping rare breeds to supply a growing demand for
quality
food
caused by recent food scares.
As these three post-productive priorities become entrenched, rare breeds are being
kept by more and more farmers. The survival and status of livestock breeds relies
largely, therefore, on how farmers perceive their usefulness as items of productivity
or profitability to the wider farming economy. Thus, economistic approaches offer a
