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THE STATUS OF TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH ANIMAL BREEDS AND PLANT VARIETIES AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY

CHAPTER FIVE: A REVIEW OF LIVESTOCK FOUND ON SCOTTISH FARMS

Sources of information

5.1 The British Cattle Movements Service provided data on the numbers of different breeds in each Scottish county.

5.2 All the breed societies for the relevant traditional and rare Scottish breeds were contacted and asked to provide data on the numbers and distribution of animals throughout Scotland. The information held by breed societies is very variable. Some hold comprehensive information while others do not hold any information on numbers. The RBST also provided information on numbers.

5.3 The Meat and Livestock Commission conducted a survey of sheep breeds in the winter of 1996. Two previous similar surveys were carried out in 1971 and 1987. The survey was sent to a random 10% of those registered as producers with the British Wool Marketing Board and asked about the breeds of sheep kept. Some 30% of the survey forms were returned. The survey looked not only at the breed structure, but also at the numbers of breeding ewes and how the national flock is distributed between the hills, the uplands and the lowlands.

5.4 To examine the trends which have taken place in the breed structures of the Scottish cattle and sheep industries, back copies of the Scottish Farmer were examined, especially sales reports.

CATTLE

5.5 The British Cattle Movements Service provided data on the numbers of male and female cattle of each breed, over 30 months of age, for each of the old Scottish counties. These data included purebreds and crossbreds.

Table 5.1 Numbers of cattle over 30 months in each Scottish county

5.6 The figures for overall cattle numbers, the numbers of purebred animals, and their percentages of the total are shown for each county in Table 5.1. The counties in the South and West of the country generally have a much higher proportion of purebred animals. This is important since it means that the reservoir of purebred genetic material tends to be concentrated in these areas.

Table 5.2 Numbers of purebred female beef cows (over 30 months) of traditional Scottish Breeds in each Scottish county

5.7 When examining the geographical spread of the individual breeds, this phenomenon becomes even more marked ( Table 5.2). For example although the Galloway breed, can be found throughout Scotland, some 58% of the cows are concentrated in the counties of Dumfries, Kircudbright and Wigtown. If the border counties of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles along with Ayr and Argyll, are also included, then over 85% of the pure Galloway cows are accounted for.

5.8 A similar trend can be seen with other breeds. For example the Shetland breed, which is numerically small anyway, has 46% of the cows in the Shetland Isles and the Ayrshire breed of dairy cow is also concentrated in a relatively small area, some 59% being found in the South West.

Table 5.3 Numbers of purebred male animals (over 30 months) of selected breeds in each Scottish county

5.9 Table 5.3 shows the numbers of male animal of several breeds of beef cattle. The most numerous of the traditional finishing sires is the Aberdeen Angus which is well distributed throughout Scotland. For comparison, data are shown for the number of male animals of some of the popular continental breeds. The popularity of continental breeds is such that overall, the three breeds shown outnumber the Aberdeen Angus by almost three to one. The Whitebred Shorthorn is numerically very small, but many of these bulls will be used to cross with Galloway cows to produce Blue-Grey cows. They are predominantly located in the same areas as the Galloway cows (see Table 5.2).

Table 5.4 Numbers of dairy cows of different breeds in each Scottish county

5.10 Within the dairy industry, Table 5.4 shows the dominance of the Friesian and Holstein breeds. The traditional Ayrshire breed, while being spread throughout Scotland has its strongholds in the counties of the south and west.

5.11 The data supplied by BCMS are extremely comprehensive. While there is no reason to believe that the data on purebred animals is not accurate, there may be some confusion of some of the definitions of some of the crossbreds (data not shown in this report). The numbers of animals of some crosses in some counties held in the BCMS database are lower than those known privately by the authors. For example Blue Greys could be recorded as Blue Greys, or Shorthorn crosses, Galloway crosses or Whitebred Shorthorn crosses. This is less likely to be a problem with purebred cattle although there may exist a similar problem among the pure Shorthorns. There is ample scope for confusion between Shorthorn, Beef Shorthorn and Whitebred Shorthorn.

5.12 Even allowing for these problems with the data, it is clear that among some of the pure breeds, there is a very limited geographical distribution. Clearly this puts these breeds at risk were there to be another outbreak of a disease like Foot and Mouth.

Galloway Cattle

5.13 There were 5160 Galloway cattle in the UK in 1999 (Table 5.6) Good information was obtained from the Galloway Cattle Society on registrations dating back to 1981 (Table 5.5)

Table 5.5 The number of registrations of Galloway Cattle, 1981-2000

5.14 A recently published book on the history of the Galloway breed and Society (Graves, 1997) contains information on the registrations of bulls and cows dating back to 1890 (Figure 5.1). There was a steep increase in registrations from around 1950 till 1960 followed by a steady decline. This increase in the 1950's was probably due to the introduction of subsidies after the last war, e.g. winter keep scheme, and the general increase in intensification, which resulted in greater demand for Galloway cattle as mothers of Blue Greys. The decline in Galloway numbers from the early 1960's may be related to the importation of continental breeds at this time. The export boom, particularly to continental Europe in the 1980's and 1990's resulted in a substantial increase in prices and many traditional Galloway buyers in Scotland were put off the breed by the high prices (personal communication from Mr A McDonald - Breed Secretary). This had a knock-on effect on the breeders of Blue Greys, many of whom switched to other breeds and did not return to the Galloway. As a consequence, the number of Blue-Grey cows has declined markedly.

5.15 The Galloway is mainly found in South West Scotland, its native area. However the breed does stretch eastwards as far as Selkirk and there are a number of herds to the east of Carlisle. There are also a large number in Devon and Exmoor, although the National Park Authority is unhappy with cattle being outwintered. There is also a number of Galloways in the Brecon Beacons area of South Wales.

Figure 5.1 Galloway Cattle registrations and exports, 1919-2000

Whitebred Shorthorn Cattle

5.17 There were 230 Whitebred Shorthorn cattle in the 1999 UK survey (Table 5.6) Currently there are 257 female animals registered in 38 herds. There are 97 bulls registered with the society. It is thought there are approximately another 50 bulls which are not registered, but are used in herds for crossing with Galloway cows to produce Blue Greys. A small number is also used to cross with Highland and Welsh Black cattle. A new census is currently underway, however it is not thought that the numbers will be substantially different from those above. The breed is mainly found in the area around the English/Scottish border. Registrations since 1963 are shown in Figure 5.2.

Figure 5.2 Whitebred Shorthorn registrations

Aberdeen Angus Cattle

5.18 The 1999 survey indicated that there were 8100 Aberdeen Angus cattle (Table 5.6) The breed society figures suggest there are currently some 8269 Aberdeen Angus Cattle in the UK, some 2818 of which are in Scotland. As with many of the other breeds, there is a large number of animals which are not registered. Registrations since 1972 are shown in Figure 5.3.

Figure 5.3 Aberdeen Angus registrations, 1972-2000

Beef Shorthorn Cattle

5.19 The breed society does not carry out a herd census but the 1999 survey showed 1740 cattle (Table 5.6). However there are currently 62 registered breeders in Scotland who in the year 200 registered or transferred a total of 256 animals.

Ayrshire Cattle

5.20 No numbers are available from the Breed Society for the number of Ayrshire Cattle in Scotland. However there are 75 pure-bred herds and approximately 50 mixed herds. Most of these are in the South West of Scotland. In 1999 there were 60600 Ayrshire cattle in the UK (table 5.6).

Belted Galloway Cattle

5.21 No information on this breed was made available by the breed society. However Table 5.6 shows 1120 cattle in 1999.

Highland Cattle

5.22 Table 5.6 shows 4400 Highland cattle in the UK as a whole.

Luing Cattle

5.23 The 1999 survey (Table 5.6) shows 1602 Luing cattle, although there are currently approximately 2000 breeding cows in Scotland, registered to produce Luing calves, suggesting an underestimation in the survey. Approximately 30% of registered cows in Scotland are on the Island of Luing. There is an increasing number in the Borders area of Scotland and in Lanarkshire.

Shetland Cattle

5.24 There are currently approximately 350 cows registered with the breed society (300 in the 1999 survey, Table 5.6) with approximately 30% of these on Shetland.

5.26 Table 5.6 gives details of the numbers of selected cattle breeds in the UK. The data are from the DEFRA United Kingdom Genetic Resource Base. The data were collected by the RBST in 1999.

Table 5.6 Numbers of relevant rare and traditional cattle breeds in the UK in 1999 (RBST, 2000)

SHEEP

5.27 The numbers of rare and traditional sheep breeds in the UK are shown in Table 5.7. Data are from DEFRA UK Genetic Resource Database, collected by RBST in 1999.

Table 5.7 Numbers of traditional, rare and minority sheep breeds in 1999 in the UK (RBST, 2000)

5.28 The survey of sheep breeds conducted by MLC (MLC, 1998) found that while there was a general increase in sheep numbers between 1987 (the previous survey) and 1996, in Scotland there was a slight fall in the relative proportion of animals on the hills (Table 5.8).

Table 5.8 Estimated numbers of sheep (000's) in the different strata of the Scottish Sheep Industry (MLC, 1998)

Table 5.9 Estimated numbers of ewes mated of different breeds in the UK (000's) (MLC, 1998)

5.29 The numbers of the main hill breeds were relatively stable or even increased from 1987-1996. In spite of this the minority and rare breeds are seriously threatened since they do not fit easily into the stratified structure of the sheep industry. There has been a big increase in the number of important terminal sire breeds, like the Texel and the Charollais. Such breeds are also increasingly being used as a sire on hill and upland breeds as well as in their more traditional role of siring lambs for slaughter out of crossbred ewes.

Scottish Blackface Sheep

5.30 No records of numbers are kept by the Blackface Sheep Breeders Association, but the MLC survey (Table 5.9) shows 2,954,000 ewes mated in the UK in 1996 with a slight increase from 1987 to 1996.

North Country Cheviot Sheep

5.31 In 1999 it was estimated that there were 110,000 North Country Cheviot sheep in the UK (Table 5.7), but the North Country Cheviot Sheep Society indicated that in the year 2000 there were approximately 86,000 ewes. Approximately 85-90% are in the North of Scotland, particularly Sutherland and Wester Ross.

South Country Cheviot Sheep

5.32 Prior to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease the South Country Cheviot Sheep Society figures showed a population of breeding ewes of approximately 65,000. Up to 17 ^th April 2001 it was estimated that some 16,000 ewes had been slaughtered, either as a result of the infection or as part of the contiguous cull. The annual ram sale in Lockerbie averages around 440 rams. Almost 25% of the breeders selling at this sale have had their flocks destroyed.

Border Leicester Sheep

5.33 Table 5.7 shows that there were some 5670 animals in the UK in 1999. This compares to 4919 ewes registered to the Border Leicester Sheep Society, which were put to the ram that same year. Details from the society show that there has been a steady decline in numbers over the years for which accurate records are available (Figure 5.4). The situation in Scotland is shown in figure 5.5. While there has been a decline in the number of flocks in all areas, this has been most dramatic in the South West.

Figure 5.4 The number of Border Leicester ewes mated in the UK

Figure 5.5 The distribution of Border Leicester sheep flocks in Scotland

Hebridean Sheep

5.34 Table 5.7 shows 2165 Hebridean sheep in the UK, but there are currently about 3500 registered Hebridean ewes in the UK and the breed society registers about 100 lambs each year. There was a dramatic rise in numbers during the 1990's, from about only 400 ewes in 1988. Much of the recent expansion has been in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. Most Hebrideans are kept in extensive situations in the uplands, but a few are kept on lowground conservation sites. Much of the resurgence in the numbers of this breed is due to the work of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and the breed's perceived reputation as a grazer which is able to control invasive plant species.

It was reported in Scottish Farmer on 23 ^rd September 2000 that the first ever special sale of Hebridean sheep was to take place in Oban the following week.

Shetland Sheep

5.35 No information on the numbers or distribution of Shetland sheep was obtained from the Shetland Sheep Breeders Group, but Table 5.7 shows 2415 animals on the UK mainland in 1999.

Boreray

5.36 Table 5.7 puts the population of Boreray sheep at only 84 animals, 74 ewes and 10 rams in 1999.

Castlemilk Moorit

5.37 The 1999 estimate of numbers of Castlemilk Moorit sheep is 439 ewes and 32 rams (Table 5.7)

North Ronaldsay

5.38 The population of North Ronaldsay sheep on the UK mainland was estimated in 1999 at 401 ewes and 66 rams (Table 5.7).

Soay

5.39 There were 689 female and 76 male Soay sheep in the UK in 1999 (Table 5.7) excluding the feral population .

Historical Market Reports

5.40 The best source of information on the changes in breed structures are old market reports. These can provide indications of how the proportions of different breeds within the industry have changed, although the absolute numbers will be influenced by other factors such as the overall intensity of farming, and the degree of geographic mobility of purchasers at markets.

5.41 On 16 ^th September 1961 the Scottish Farmer reported the annual sale of rams at Kelso. The breeds for sale were, Border Leicester, Suffolks, Oxford Downs, Bluefaced Leicester, Hampshire and Dorset Downs. There was no mention of any of the imported breeds which are now common. The most numerous breed at the sale was the Suffolk which numbered 1654. The second most numerous breed was the Border Leicester, of which 837 were offered for sale.

5.42 By the 1970's there appears to have been little change, with the same breeds being dominant. There was no mention of any other breeds. However in the early 1970's the first imports of the Texel breed from Holland began. By 1980 they were becoming well established as a popular terminal sire. Other breeds were to follow and by 2000 the list of breeds and the numbers offered for sale at Kelso were as shown in Table 5.10.

Table 5.10 The numbers of different sheep breeds offered for sale at the annual Kelso ram sales in 2000.

5.43 Breeds like the Scottish Blackface and Cheviot have always had special sales. These are still ongoing at places like Castle Douglas, Newton Stewart, Lanark and Kelso amongst others.

5.44 It is obvious from past issues of publications such as Scottish Farmer that the main change as far as the breed structure of the sheep industry is concerned has been the much greater choice of breeds available to producers. This is particularly true in terms of the choice of terminal sire.

5.45 With dairy cattle there has not been the same diversity of breeds. In the 1960's the predominant breed of dairy cow was the Ayrshire. There were some Friesian cattle as well, but there was no mention of the Holstein which is now the predominant breed of dairy cow. Over the years the British Friesian and the Holstein have become so close that the breed societies have merged and the name Friesian has been dropped from the title.

5.46 The breed structure of the beef industry in Scotland has, if anything, undergone even greater changes than the sheep industry. Until the early 1960's the traditional breeds such as the Aberdeen Angus, the Shorthorn, the Galloway dominated. However in the 21 ^st October 1961 edition of the Scottish Farmer there was a report of a telegram sent by the Ayrshire Cattle Society to the Secretary of State for Scotland. The telegram was expressing concern at the Government's refusal to allow the importation of live Charolais bulls from the continent. There was obviously a strong desire to try out imported breeds to increase productivity. On 2 ^nd September of the same year a representative of Farmers Meat Company reported on a recent visit he had made to France to inspect Charolais cattle where he was very impressed with the breed and was keen that they should be imported to the UK. Another article, this time on 23 ^rd September 1961 explained that an English breed, the Lincoln Red was a good bull to cross with the Aberdeen Angus and was a viable alternative to the Charolais.

5.47 By 1970 the Charolais breed was well established. The first ever sale of British-bred Charolais bulls at Hexham recorded the highest ever prices to date for any breed. On 12 ^th September 1970 the first batch of imported Simmental cattle were released from quarantine in Dundee. The editorial of the Scottish Farmer of that week called for the speeding up of the veterinary testing procedures to allow more imports of foreign breeds of cattle. Coming up to date to the Perth bull sales of 2000, the reports in The Scottish Farmer centred on the Simmental and Charolais breeds. The other traditional breeds were barely mentioned.

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