[shetlandpaul]

just found this. so mainlanders your lamb is no longer shetland lamb.

Shetland Lamb is protected under the European Commission Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) scheme, regulation number 1107/96. This means that true Shetland Lamb with all it’s inherent attributes must be born, reared and finished in the Shetland Islands.

Shetland Lamb is protected under the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) scheme, regulation number 1107/96. This means that true Shetland Lamb must be born, reared and finished in the Shetland Islands.

it makes sense. pity the marketing folks don't take it up.

[Hermit]

mmm Does it apply to Suffolks or Cheviots or indeed any breed cause most are named after a place of origin? Red Tape gone mad. I do agree in these origin rules for speciality products but not bog standard products.

[Rosemary]

They don't know where the apostrophe goes 

[waterhouse]

Good for the brand but lousy for diversity.  If breeders outside the Isles can't call them Shetlands then they won't keep them and the gene pool will only exist in a tight geographic area.

[shetlandpaul]

but thats why shetlands are shetlands because they were raised and bred in a small geographic area. you can still have shetlands you just can't sell it as shetland lamb. odd that when trying to protect other shetland food products they were turned down. i suppose its like the Gloucester old spot.
if it helps protect the pure shetland and gives a premium for them that would be good.
however they don't seem bothered marketing it.

[waterhouse]

I absolutely agree in the theory: the snag is that an environmental disaster such as a virus can take out the whole local population.  Part of the fun of rare breeds is the rareness, but rarity is hazardous.  And its more difficult to take on a rare breed when you are hundreds of miles from the nearest breeder.

[Hermit]

All sounds a bit greedy to me, why cant Southerners breed and sell the lamb they choose. More Shetlands the better, they have only just become a popular breed again after becoming a rarity. The Shetland cow is now becoming popular again, is Shetland going to claim that one back now it sees a fast buck in them as well. What about Yorkshire puddings? are we going to see a politically correct Sunday Dinner

[shetlandpaul]

now hermit why would anyone want to claim a yorkshire pud as there own. if its good enough for parma ham. melton pork pies and even pizza then yes lets have a trade brand of shetland lamb. after all its nearly organic if you discount the wormer and all the other stuff we put onto them. yours could even claim to be seaweed fed. like the gos pig you can keep them but you just can't sell it as shetland. we are really missing out on our unique product.
also yorky pud can't be tracted to one area the same as lancashire hotpot.

[Hermit]

I can understand a locally traditional way of processing a product as in parma ham etc  being made into a restricted name but not a breed,where do you stop? They have tried so many times to push Air Dried Mutton and Reestit Mutton but have failed.Shetland lamb and mutton is excellent but not a commercial meat. Shetlands are for smallholders who mainly eat their own produce, not for the money making . The buyers that come up from south have the prices they will pay at auction organised on the boat up! They discuss how many they want and a price so they keep prices as low as poss.Shetland will always be at the mercy of such buyers as transport costs have to be covered as well which makes the Shetland lamb from Shetland even more expensive. I say let those who want to breed Shetlands for meat to sell,let them. They could become Flock Book registered to prove they are pedigree. There is no better advert for Shetland lamb than to see how many folk are breeding them around the country and they should be proud of the lamb they produce,they should be able to say it is Shetland lamb after all it is nothing else. I wonder how many Shetlands there are outside of Shetland compared to what we have up here? is it really such a unique product?

[Fleecewife]

Perhaps it's more to do with where they are grazed - with the idea of romantic Shetland moorland, misted by the salt spray........   And of course blasted by the westerlies.    It's easy enough to get round anyway, as meat from mainland Britain flocks can be sold as 'lamb from Shetland sheep'.  I doubt Joe Bloggs would notice the difference.

[kanisha]

pré salé lamb goes for a high price here in france

[Sylvia]

What are we to call it then? I have a restaurant very interested in taking what lambs I can spare. They pride themselves in selling rare-breed meat.
Can I call my Aylesbury ducklings Aylesburies, they come from Devon!

[bamford6]

whot happens iff you use embryo from Shetland im using new zealand this yere

[shetlandpaul]

well if you read the rule it says born raised and finished on shetland. its strange that folks are happy with the protection of the GOS pig but think its strange that our little sheep don't deserve the same. there is a diffrence in taste from shetland lamb to that of standard sheep. more so than that of the pig meat.

why are you importing sheep embryos bamford lots of native breeds would do any job you wan't.

if the duck came from a local area then they are deserving of protection. there is no reason not to sell your lamb as rare breed apart from the fact that they are now off the rare breed list. even call it shetland lamb is ok. but if you follow the route of the pig marketing then it needs a unique sales dscription.
think of real chedder compared to the rest if they had protection likr the italian cheese then it would have helped protect the local farmers.

[daddymatty82]

we  have a small flock of  pedigree shetland and they are shetland but im happy not to call there meat shetland  lamb. only due to the fact they were not born bred and fed shetland i know there shetland  sheep i know there meat is a very tasty primitive meat so i think its all fair for shetland be aloud to keep there breed name. there are rare breed farms selling rare breed meat what breed are they well before they were rare breed meat it was a gos pig or some such breed. i think it makes sense to me