Our Farm / Geddes Rare Breed Pork

We have added some information here on the breeds of pig that Lorne rears at Geddes Farm outside Nairn. 
Gloucester Old Spots
In the Berkeley Vale where the Gloucestershire Old Spots was traditionally raised it was known as the Orchard Pig and was reared on windfall apples and whey, by-products of local agricultural enterprises. Local folklore claimed that the black spots on the pig were caused by falling apples.

It was a very local breed before the Breed Society was formed in 1914, and remained a seriously endangered breed until the last few years of the twentieth century when its numbers increased as a result of the development of a speciality market by the RBST for its pork and bacon.

It is a large pig with lop ears; white in colour with a varying number of black spots anywhere on the body. It is a hardy animal and will happily live outside with the availability of a shelter.  It will graze and enjoys rooting, and the sows have good maternal qualities.
www.oldspots.org.uk

Large Black
The Large Black was founded mainly on the native stock of Devon and Cornwall, but it also incorporated the last remaining examples of the Small Black breed from East Anglia. The Breed Society was founded in 1899, and pigs were exported to many countries in the early 20th century, especially those with warmer climates in Europe, Africa, Australasia, the Caribbean and North and South America.

Sows have very good maternal qualities, and the breed is noted for its fecundity. The Guinness Book of Records lists a Large Black belonging to A M Harris of Lapworth, Warwickshire, as having produced the largest number of litters (26) between 1940 and 1952.
   
The Large Black is a docile lop-eared animal, and its skin pigmentation helps it to resist sunburn, making it ideal for outdoor pig production systems. It is an efficient converter of low quality feed, and produces pork of high quality which finds a ready outlet in specialist markets.
www.largeblackpigs.co.uk

Middle White
During the formation and development of pig breeds in Britain in the nineteenth century, white breeds of different size emerged in Yorkshire and the Middle White originated by crossing Large White and Small White pigs. At the beginning of this process all three breeds often were interchangeable in the showring, but the Middle White was recognised officially as a distinct breed in 1882.

The breed is relatively small, white in colour with prick ears. They have a distinctively short, wide head with a “squashed” or dished face which renders them less inclined to root than longer-snouted breeds.

The Middle White is a specialist pork producer. It is early-maturing and quick growing, and produces succulent, sweet-tasting pork. This has been recognised especially in Japan where the Emperor is said to eat no other type of pork and where a shrine has been dedicated in honour of the breed

Tamworth
The breed originated in the Midlands around the town that shares its name. It is the only native breed of pig in Britain which is red, and its ancestry is subject to several conflicting claims and theories. It proved very adaptable and was exported to several parts of the world, including not only North America and Australasia, but also South-East Asia. Breeding stock from Australia was brought back to Britain by the RBST in the 1970s and 1990s.

The Tamworth is suited to both quality pork and bacon production and, although historically it was noted in the Midlands as a pork pig, it now is mostly promoted for dry-cured bacon which commands a premium in speciality markets.

The prick-eared Tamworth is active and suited to outdoor systems, being used in woodland and scrub reclamation projects, where its colour protects it from sunburn. It experienced the least influence from imports of Asian pigs used in the 18th century to improve native types, and retains the longer snout of earlier British types.

www.tamworthbreedersclub.co.uk

Information supplied by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust
© RBST 2008