Saving Heritage Breeds

Driving through the countryside, you may have noticed that nowadays it's paddock after paddock of merino sheep, while virtually every cow lining up for milking is black and white. Your neighbours' backyard chooks are likely to be Isa Browns. You probably can't even remember the last time you saw a pig, because they're all hidden away in sheds.

An extinction crisis is quietly unfolding on our farms. Since mid-last century, advancements in animal husbandry have resulted in the global adoption of a small number of fast-growing, high-yielding livestock types. While performance and profitability gains have been extraordinary, they have led to the extinction of a unique livestock breed globally each month for over three decades. Saving Heritage Breeds tells the story of the Australian farmers working hard to save the remaining heritage breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Gressier argues that heritage breed farmers are motivated by one of the most powerful conservation tools we have: love.

Catie Gressier is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture and Environment at the University of Western Australia, and a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at Curtin University.