By Barbara Collins
“I always say I was born two generations too late,” said Robbie Neill from Stonebridge Cottage Farm in Crossgar, Co. Down which specialises in pedigree pork.
“I was always into sustainability. I prefer the times when people had their own livestock and grew their own vegetables, when they were more self-sufficient.”
Stonebridge Cottage Farm has 120 rare breed pigs, some pedigree sheep and a flock of hens.
Robbie is from a farming background. He grew up on a beef and sheep farm with his parents and two brothers.
He had spent more than a decade breeding pedigree Suffolk sheep but took over the family farm with his brother when his father passed away suddenly in 2016.
His brother rears and breeds Limousins and British Blues, while Robbie concentrated on pigs.
Pedigree pork in Co. Down
So how did he get into pedigree pork?
“I said to my wife Louise that I wouldn’t mind a sow out the back and she said ‘no way, we have enough four-legged animals about the place’. She went to a hen do and as soon as the tail light was out the driveway, I had Martha in the yard. She was a pedigree Oxford Sandy and Black,” Robbie explained.
“Louise forgave me eventually and we kept her. Before long, we had a litter of piglets.”
That was seven years ago. Now, Robbie has 100 pigs – a mixture of Oxford Sandy and Black and Saddleback which he rears and breeds.
Some are sold in their farm shop; some go to independent fine food stores and others to food service.
The unique selling point is that they are fed with the whey from Mike’s Fancy Cheese which is a raw milk cheese made nearby.
They also get spent grain from the Bullhouse Brewery in Belfast. Feed is bought from the local mill and they also get local vegetables.
“Mike had nowhere for his whey, so we collect from him once a week and the brewers’ grain is also close by,” Robbie explained.
“I started when I had Martha with grain from Farmageddon Co-op which is now closed but thankfully, craft breweries are now very popular and the Bullhouse have two locations in Belfast including a tap room in Ballyhackamore in east Belfast.
“I work with Lisdergan Butchers from Omagh who take whole animals off me and distribute to food service.
“Chefs love that there is a such good provenance and that they have a traditional diet. I still have a full-time job as a firefighter, so between the farm shop, retail, private customers and the food service through Lisdergan Meats, it balances out well,” Robbie added.
Markets for pork
The majority of their business is selling to chefs, but Robbie says he enjoys interacting with the public.
“We are flexible with our hours for the farm shop. It is open all day Saturday which tends to be the busiest day,” he said.
“What is different about us is that we can provide the cuts that are difficult for people to source, like porchetta.
“We are seeing more demand for the roasting cuts like shoulder, and pork belly with the rind still attached, but the burgers, chops, mince and sausages still sell very well.”
The pedigree side of the business is something Robbie says he gets great satisfaction from.
“There is a great buzz at shows and events,” he said. “You get to exchange news and tips with other breeders and it’s lovely when they get a rosette. I love that the children are entering competitions, too.
“Hyacinth (named after Hyacinth Bucket (bouquet) in the TV show Keeping Up Appearances) won prizes at the Armagh County Show and Balmoral.”
Farm
The majority of the herd is kept outdoors on 4-5ac (the farm is 100ac, most of which his brother uses for rearing pedigree cattle) until the pigs are housed over winter.
“The ground they are on is marshy, so by winter it is too heavy and hard to get out to feed them. They don’t tend to thrive as well, so I move them into bedded sheds,” Robbie said.
“I still keep some pedigree Kerry Hill and North County Cheviot sheep, but the rare breed pork seems to have struck a chord with people.”
He said he is always happy to talk to people who want to get into rearing rare breed pigs. Future plans include building a family home on his grandparents’ farm nearby, subject to planning permission.
“At the moment, we live off-farm. It would be good to bring it all onto one site and maybe work more on farm-to-fork initiatives,” Robbie continued.
“The family are young [three children], so it’s about being able to go places with them and still have the animals.
“I used to say when I had sheep, you couldn’t get a dog to bark over the hedge at you. Now, with the pork, people love it. I have lots more plans in the pipeline.”