Back to our roots: The importance of Native Breeds as conservation tools

After the last war, the government issued farmers with a statement ordering them to produce more food from their land. This was the beginning of agricultural intensification and the subsequent decline of many species associated with the extensive farming practices of the past. Fast-growing continental breeds of livestock became popular, and we saw the decline of our native breeds, with many now placed on the Rare Breeds Register. However, with their loss, their role as conservation grazers in protecting important wildlife habitats was acknowledged. But just why are they so important to our wildlife?

The landscape that we live in and enjoy today has been created by large, browsing herbivores and subsequently generations of farmers containing these herbivores. It is due to this land use practice that we now have those SSSIs and areas of special conservation that support the species that we are so keen to protect.

However, with the increased pressure after the last war to produce higher yields and the accompanying government financial incentives, the trend shifted towards intensive farming which began to threaten the very environments that the farmers had created. Not only did stocking and cropping densities increase, but also chemical input and the type of animal farmed. The trend moved towards the large, fast-growing continentals that consequently needed higher proportions of concentrate feeds to enable them to mature at an increased rate. These animals can also not do well on the poor, herb-rich pasture that our native breeds thrive on.

However, in recent years, the breed societies of the Native Breeds have pushed their breeds not only as the producers of superior quality beef, but also in their importance as conservation grazers.

Which type of animal to choose?

Whilst all types of grazers are important conservation tools, the stock to utilise depends on conservation objectives, and it is often beneficial to utilise cattle, horses, sheep and even goats at different stages during a conservation grazing scheme to create a suitable habitat for wildlife.

Cattle, unlike other large herbivores tear at vegetation with their tongue rather than biting vegetation with teeth like sheep and horses. This tearing motion creates an open, uneven structure, rather than the even lawns that tend to be created by grazing with horses. Sheep on the other hand selectively remove some rank grass species from a sward. The vegetation structure as a result of grazing by cattle promotes the emergence from the seed bank of rare plant species of conservation importance as well as creating both open ground and important micro-habitats for invertebrates. Overgrazing by sheep can eliminate tussocks that provide shelter for many invertebrates.

Many organisations, such as the National Trust use ponies to open up areas of wetland that have become overgrown, and then cattle are moved in, and their tongue-grazing method provides a long-term sustainable diverse vegetation structure.

The trampling action of both cattle and ponies is hugely beneficial in a number of ways. Both are important tools at reducing the spread of plants that tend to swamp an area, such as bracken and bramble. In study plots in the Carmarthenshire uplands, it has been shown that spraying to control bracken is not enough on its own. It must be followed up with correct grazing. Plots that were sprayed and had no follow-up grazing became infested with bracken, whilst those given a follow-up grazing treatment were shown to contain significantly less bracken.

In wetland areas, this trampling action extends to poaching, and as long as the area is not being overgrazed, this poaching is beneficial. The action creates small temporary pools that are quickly colonised by small invertebrates, often those of conservation significance.

Cattle and ponies also provide dung, and plenty of it! Their dung acts as a larder for a whole variety of insect life. Studies suggest that cattle dung is utilised by more dung beetles than is horse dung or sheep dung. Cattle dung retains its moisture, due to the formation of a surface crust, and therefore supports a whole host of dung insects. These dung insects provide a food source for birds and small mammals, are the dung beetles are key recyclers of nutrients back into the soil. These beetles have been shown to be very good indicators of habitat health, so are well worth considering when looking at the success of conservation grazing schemes.

Why Native as opposed to Continental breeds?

Modern breeds of commercial grazing stock will, almost without exception, fail to perform as well on poor quality pasture of high conservation importance. Native, traditional breeds, unlike their continental counterparts can thrive on low quality pasture that is of a high conservation priority. This is true of horses, sheep, goats and cattle. These breeds will graze on the wide variety of herbs and poor grasses, and yet still produce a saleable product as an end result. Cattle breeds such as Welsh Blacks, Herefords, Longhorns, Highlands, British Whites and Beef Shorthorns are all superb conservation grazers, and with the recent increased consumer interest in natural, sustainable food, their beef is also marketed as a niche product and sought-after commodity, which affords a premium price for the farmer. This is supplemented by the fact that they need less concentrate feed, and thus cost less to raise than continental breeds.

These native breeds are also much hardier than their continental counterparts, and can be out-wintered with very little supplementary feeding, thus providing the grazing service at the correct time of year in order to keep weed species at bay. Similarly, Welsh Mountain ponies are hardy and able to survive outdoors over the winter as long as they have sufficient shelter: something that could not be said for a thoroughbred or arab! Many primitive sheep breeds will utilise woody weeds and purple moor grass, and all native sheep are fantastic at controlling ragwort, as they will eat the fresh growth, that at later stages may poison other livestock. Native goat breeds are well known as being the best grazers for controlling scrub, but they do have a tendency to escape, and are thus rather difficult to keep in the desired area! This can also be true with sheep (particularly Black Welsh Mountains), and thus fencing for sheep and goats is an altogether more costly matter than for ponies or cattle.

So, if you have an area of land that could benefit grazing, what is the next step? The Grazing Animals Project (GAP) and the Welsh version, PONT has been set up to aid the development of conservation grazing. It provides information regarding grazing schemes, and has set up the Local Grazing Scheme which puts livestock owners who need grazing for their animals in touch with landowners who need their land grazing. Most conservation organisations can advise on grazing, and the National Trust often looks for winter grazing for its animals.

If we as conservationists and farmers can thus work together to provide for our common objective of preserving the wonderful countryside that we live in, and species that we share it with, then we will be well on our way to reducing the decline of what we cherish. Government incentives such as Tir Gofal and Tir Cynnal are providing the financial incentives to enable farmer to turn back the clock on the intensification that was pushed upon them by the government in the first place. However, we must remember to support our commercial farmers and allow them to make a decent income from their land, as their fathers and grandfathers have before them. We must strike a balance between a perfect example of conservation grazing, and pure common sense, and work not at odds, but in support of each other. And if by doing this, we can promote our native breeds and the benefits to us all that go with them, then all the better.

Sarah Beynon.