A RARE TREAT; Consumer interest in meat from traditional breeds on increase.

Byline: ANDREW FORGRAVE

RENEWED interest in rare livestock breeds has resulted in North Wales's first ever spring sale of traditional farm animals.

Twenty five cattle,53 sheep, five pigs and 70 caged poultry are due to be sold through Ruthin Auction Mart on May 30.

The sale has been organised by the North Wales Support Group for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), which has seen membership swell since the foot-and-mouthcrisis.

Chairwoman Diana Flack said rising consumer demand for specialist meat, combined with the growing small holder sector,had made the sale a viable proposition.

Already there are 50 accredited butchers around the UK selling meat from rare breeds.

Mrs Flack, who farms two holdings on Anglesey, said: ``There is now a sizeable niche market for specialist meat as people demand more individual flavours.

``Poultry in particular is in vogue, perhaps because people are turning away from mass produced chickens, but also because people need very little land to rear specialist breeds.''

The group, which covers North Wales and the borders,has about 60 members. Some are commercial farmers and their families,other are small holders with professions ranging from doctors and vets to joiners and college lecturers.

Specialists sheep breeds in the group span South Downs, Soays, Hebrideans and Manx loaghtans, while cattle breeds are represented by the likes of red polls and longhorns.

Improving the marketability of the respective breeds is seen as crucial to preserving their long-termprospects.

Twenty livestock breeds were lost forever in the first three-quarters of the 20th century and there are now 63 rare breeds of sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, horses, ponies and poultry supported by the RBST - some of which are rarer than the giant panda.

Foot-and-mouth threatened the survival of others, like the Vaynol cattle, a white, semi-wild breed of only 21 breeding cows which was first established in 1872 on the Faenol estate,Bangor. They and others escaped but many breeds came within a whisker of extinction,prompting the setting up of the RBST Heritage Gene Bank to preserve and rebuild Britain's rare sheep breeds after the crisis.

The RSBT North Wales Support Group held its first livestock sale last October and its first spring sale has attracted interest from as far afield as Cornwall.

Publicity officer Geraint Evans, from Gaerwen, who almost lost his prized Hill Radnor sheep to Anglesey's firebreak cull, said: ``There is plenty of grass around at this time of year so we expect small holders will be encouraged to buy something different for their holdings.''

A small holders equipment sale will run alongside the main livestock auction.

Mrs Flack, who breeds Welsh black and red poll cattle,and Welsh black mountain sheep, said: ``Preserving rare and traditional breeds is important because it maintains a gene bank of characteristics,like disease resistance, that may one day become very important to all farmers.

``Fashions change as well. When I first started breeding Welsh black mountain sheep, there were just 20 members of the breed society. Now there are 282.''

Ruthin auctioneer Glyn Owens added: ``I'm very confident this auction will attract a lot of interest and that traditional breed sales will develop further in the future.''

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Pictures: RICHARD WILLIAMS AND GERALLT RADCLIFFE; Rare breeds, such as Greyface Dartmoor sheep (mainpic)are becoming more popular, says RBSTNorth Wales chairwoman Diana Flack (inset),and will be sold at a new auction this month