Category: Livestock

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EU puts Trust in Sheep

A new Consortium to study heritage sheep breeds across Europe got off the ground recently with a meeting in Yorkshire, England. The meeting came at the end of a project set up by the European Union, although I confess I have found it very difficult to find out more. Help, if you can.

Heritage breeds are not necessarily rare, but they are often geographically isolated and that can put them at risk. After the most recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England man thousand Herdwicks were dead in England, and blue tongue threatened the Mergelland sheep of the Netherlands. The project will study threats and how to conserve and make use of sheep breeds. According to Amanda Carson, of the Sheep Trust, who is leading the new European consortium, “the information we gather will also inform policy-makers, nationally and at European level, about the best way to look after our farm animal genetic resources”.

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Separating the cows from the goats

Some lactose intolerant people drink goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk because it is more digestible. Turns out they could be at risk of vitamin A deficiency. Well, not really. But a recent French study that compared farmhouse cheeses made from cow’s milk and goat’s milk discovered that chevres contained no beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. Vive la difference.

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Welsh pony in trouble?

A long article in icWales, the self-described “national website of Wales,” details the predicament of the local pony breed. Once an important part of everyday rural life – and indeed industrial life, due to their use in coal mines – more recently a children’s trekking pony, there is now limited demand for the breed. Wild herds have thus declined dramatically, no doubt resulting in genetic erosion. Does it matter? A resounding yes echoes around the hills.

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Oekologie

The latest edition of a relatively new blog carnival called Oekologie — very groovy — is up at Behavioral Ecology Blog. There’s not an awful lot of direct agricultural interest. A post from GrrrlScientist summarizes a study on the evolution of Soay sheep on the island of Hirta in the Outer Hebrides (not) near Scotland. Cold winters select larger sheep, which selects for fewer sheep. But not all winters are that cold. On the indirect front, there are an awful lot of posts on climate change, including the one from our own Andy Jarvis, which Oekologie compiler Matt admits he found “too depressing … to read”. Shame on you Matt, but thanks for the carnival.