[Shropshirelass]

Hi all I'm just considering signing up to the Rare breeds survival trust as a member - but was wondering if anyone on here are members & if so do you find it beneficial? &  especially if you haven't got livestock? Thanks x

[Rosemary]

We're both members of RBST and of the local support group, Caledonian.

I've advertised stock and fleece on the RBST site but the most beneficial part has been through the local support group, through which I've made friends and contacts who are interested in similar things - rare breeds and smallholding.

The RBST has worked to support Shetland cattle, which we breed but primary reason for us joining was to support rare breeds by supporting the work of RBST rather than to get any personal benefit.

[Shropshirelass]

That's fair comment - I was just thinking of how much I would use it, & it seems more keen to help sheep owners as there's stuff for the wool & flocks on their but nothings really mentioned on cattle, horses, poultry, pigs or goats ect which I think is a slight shame, except for selling the livestock through them.

At the moment I'm just weighing up the benefits as at present I'm only keeping rare breeds poultry, my family do farm but its more commercial farming & I help on the farm but unable at present to commit to other types of livestock for myself. In the near future hopefully x

[SallyintNorth]

I'm a member, and enjoy the magazine.  I didn't join for my own benefit, but to support the charity, whose work I believe in.  I have used the website for information about breeds, to look for sheep and for fleece, and to advertise for sheep wanted - none of which I needed to be a member to do.

[Rosemary]

At the moment I'm just weighing up the benefits as at present I'm only keeping rare breeds poultry, my family do farm but its more commercial farming & I help on the farm but unable at present to commit to other types of livestock for myself. In the near future hopefully x

Rare breeds have an increasing role to play in commercial systems, especially where there are stewardship schemes. Also where there is a desire to reduce reliance on cereal feeds.

For example, many of the rare breeds of cattle thrive on a forage only diet but can produce good cross breed calves. Our breed, the Shetland, is only about 400kg but is hardy and milky, so the cows are low maintenance but can raise cross bred calves that grow quickly on the high quality milk. 

[lachlanandmarcus]

That's fair comment - I was just thinking of how much I would use it, & it seems more keen to help sheep owners as there's stuff for the wool & flocks on their but nothings really mentioned on cattle, horses, poultry, pigs or goats ect which I think is a slight shame, except for selling the livestock through them.

At the moment I'm just weighing up the benefits as at present I'm only keeping rare breeds poultry, my family do farm but its more commercial farming & I help on the farm but unable at present to commit to other types of livestock for myself. In the near future hopefully x

I think they do, one of the main ways is by supporting the semen bank for sires of these breeds. ESP things like the Suffolk horse, the immediate assistance is to the stallion owner as they get the straws taken free but also they get free or discounted use of their straws, but for the rest of us, we get access to those straws at a discounted rate, and to bloodlines that otherwise could be lost. Sometimes the straws are available even tho the animal itself has died, so the benefit goes on.


For something like the suffolk, where the number of live foals can be in the teens and are rarer than the giant panda, such assistance can be crucial ESP to avoid too much inbreeding.

[shygirl]

we were members and used the site for advertising livestock.
we were actively breeding quite alot of rare breeds for a while but found it financially difficult and did think it was a shame the rbst didnt offer some incentive to breeders. we are still breeding but on a much smaller scale.
sometimes livestock are rare as there isnt a demand for them.

[Shropshirelass]

Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of rare breeds & know the benefits - heck we've had 4 longhorn x calves in the past 2 years off some Longhorn heifers we bought in last year & their growing well & amazingly easy calvers & quite cows, you can go in a pen & look at the calves close up. My great uncle also used to breed show quality clun forest sheep for many years. We're in a area that tends to sell rare breed meat quite well so its also good &

I've done lots of research into rare breeds farming & really want to get into it in the next few years & am working up to buying some land but at present things like time, money & my studies are taking precedence

I also totally agree with you shygirl that

sometimes livestock are rare as there isnt a demand for them.

.

Granted I do think that rare breeds can be viable parts of a business but you need to run them alongside commercial stock to make a half decent living, even though I'll always favor the rare breeds. I'm going to look into it more but will definatley be joining my local support group & buying some merchandise.

[lachlanandmarcus]

I'm not sure there isn't a demand with some of the breeds at least. The problem is that numbers get to such a low level that for most buyers in most of the country there simply isn't a local example available to them to visit at reasonable expense.


Also some of the breed societies and sellers are very frustrating, either having out of date sales lists or ones with just a few words of detail and nearly always no prices quoted. And some prices that are asked make it hard to justify.


So I think there is a lot more that could be done.


TBH if someone had a Suffolk mare that was rideable and youngish, I would buy it like a shot, and use for ridingn and AI breed them (pure) to help the breed and extend their geographical spread as that worries me from a disease perspective :  but when a breed is as rare as suffolks the only stock available is youngstock and altho I broke in my current horse that was at our old place which had suitable facilities, we don't have those here.

[goosepimple]

I'm also a member, as is my OH and my two children.  It gets the kids interested in livestock and they tell their friends at school about them, most of which are farming children but new nothing of rare breeds.
 
As with other posters, I like the magazine.  And I like rare or unusual things, I'm not mainstream I expect.
 
Also as we are north of the border (and many of the primitive sheep breeds come from here) I like to give our support - Scotland is limited when it comes to the number of breeders of rare livestock (because we it not a densely populated country) and it can be important to keep in touch with those who have it for breeding purposes.  The rbst officers are helpful in finding stock and helping with breeding.
 
I think you join to help promote the breeds and keep them going though, I wouldn't look to get anything from your membership - more 'what you can do for your country not what your country can do for you' kind of attitude I expect! 

[Rosemary]

RBST is quite small organisationally - I think there are seven employees including administrators. I know there's a CEO, two field officers, a conservation officer and a PR person. Everyone else is a volunteer including Council members and Trustees - so there's not a huge organisational structure.