The British Saddleback was one of Britain’s mainstream breeds up to the 1970s. Renowned as a top quality breeding animal, they were very popular for crossing with a white breed to produce ‘blue pigs’.  The eating quality of meat from rare breeds is far superior to that of commercially developed breeds and is due to their genes and the fact that they are slower maturing.  The sow is an excellent, milky dam. The British Saddleback is among the most prolific breeds known and the average bred and reared per litter is always among the highest of all breeds in Britain. They are good mothers with an excellent temperament.

The British Landrace is a very versatile breed, performing well under either indoor or outdoor systems of management. Sows have the ability to produce and rear large litters of piglets with very good daily gain and high lean meat content, in a superbly fleshed carcase, which is ideal for either fresh pork or bacon production.

The greatest strength of the Landrace is its undisputed ability to improve other breeds of pig when crossed to produce hybrid gilts – over 90% of hybrid gilt production in Western Europe and North America uses Landrace bloodlines as the foundation for the profitable production of quality pigmeat.