How Robert and Sara got into rearing their pigs and why they chose these breeds:
Robert and Sara take great pride in rearing their pigs in the right way, allowing them to roam around the fields and mature slowly. Having become increasingly disillusioned with how the vast majority of meat in Britain is produced, they knew they wanted to produce high welfare meat that they could eat knowing that their animals had enjoyed an extensive free range life with a natural and varied diet. Rare breed pigs were the obvious choice for them as they suit the fully free range lifestyle, producing a beautiful tasting meat with flavorsome fat. Modern commercial farming methods take advantage of the fact that pigs can be reared very intensively and so Robert and Sara were determined to go against this trend and produce pork of the highest quality. By rearing multiple breeds of pig Robert and Sara also hope to demonstrate how not all pork is the same and different breeds have different characteristics in terms of flavour and texture. They now have six rare breed pigs including; the Large Black, Oxford Sandy & Black, Tamworth and Berkshire pigs.
The challenges that Robert and Sara are facing producing rare breed pigs:
Rare breed pigs grow slowly, have a higher proportion of fat and produce much smaller litters than commercial breeds. These are all great qualities but significantly increase the cost of producing a finished carcass. All the time their pigs spend running around they use up energy that a commercial penned pig would convert to body weight. Robert and Sara aim to sell their products at a similar price to premium supermarket prices but can only achieve this by selling direct to restaurants and consumers with no middle man.
Products that Robert and Sara are offering:
Robert and Sara offer fresh pork either as a half pig cut to the customers requirements or as individual joints. They also produce British charcuterie on the farm, made using their own rare breed pigs – Robert and Sara are determined to show that British charcuterie can stand its ground when compared to other more famous forms of charcuterie from abroad.
Robert and Sara’s favourite pork recipe:
A favourite at Buttle Farm is the slow roast shoulder cooked on a bed of onions and sage with a good splash of white wine. When it is cooked in their wood fired the onions melt away and mix with the juices from the pork and the wine to create an amazingly rich sauce.
Contact details:
Address: Compton Bassett, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8RE
Phone: 01249 814918 / 07796 697441
Email: robert@buttlefarm.co.uk
Web: http://www.buttlefarm.co.uk
