Montreal Area Farm Takes Action to Preserve Genetic Diversity

A Montreal area-based farmer and agrotourism operator is taking steps to help maintain rare livestock genetics, in particular the Lacombe breed of pig. Established in 1982, Quinn Farm is a 200-acre agricultural and agrotourism operation that produces a variety of horticultural crops, more than 18 varieties of apples, Christmas and balsam trees, raises chickens, pigs and sheep, including many rare breeds, and houses a large farm store that features the farm's own produce, and a variety of local products.

Farm cofounder Elwood Quinn observes the public's awareness of the importance of maintaining genetic diversity, even within the one percent of those directly involved in food production, is minimal.

Quote-Elwood Quinn-Quinn Farm:

I've been involved for 15 years or so with Heritage Livestock Canada, a public forum for the promotion of genetic diversity.We are losing genetic diversity in farm animals about 10 times quicker than in the wild.I've got on the farm here now three breeds represented with posters to explain to visitors what they are, who they are.We have Tamworth, Berkshire and the Canadian breed Lacombe, which is quite unique.

There's only seven or eight farms in the world with Lacombe. All of them are in Canada.We have huge interest across the border to the south for this pig.Today's commercial pig is essentially a knock off of the Lacombe pig developed about 70 years ago in Lacombe, Alberta by Agriculture Canada research personnel.Our primary interest now is to get the Lacombe numbers increased and along with that some interest to have purebred pigs on farms anywhere in Canada.

Quinn notes new diseases are constantly emerging but we're losing the genetic diversity that would help in meeting those disease challenges.
He stresses extinction is forever and once it's gone, it's gone.