I took a trip today down to Lin Blackwell’s farm near Wantage in Oxfordshire – in fact I took a Dexter heifer, Clare, her 4 month old calf Ulrik and a Dexter cow, Diana, to run with Lin’s very handsome Red Dexter Bull for a couple of months. Lin has one of the larger herds of Dexter in the Country and, has mentored me over the last couple of years, into the winning ways of this wonderful breed.
At the begining of the summer, I bartered one of my Oxford Sandy and Black gilts together with her first litter of 9 piglets with Lin for some Dexter beef. There was Ophelia, now developed into a stunning breeding pig. Beautiful markings and her offspring, crossed with my Tamworth boar [Thriller] have developed beautifully. Bartering with other local livestock producers is part of the Fallowfields sustainability strategy, reducing food miles and encouraging the development of rare breed and British Native Species.
Sadly, Ophelia did not recognise me, however I felt really proud to have made a contribution, no matter how small, to this delightful rare breed.
