A Dutch farmer has rescued pedigree pigs from the former East Germany from the brink of extinction. As the Leicoma pigs are not suited to modern factory farms, the farmer is likely the only person breeding these animals today.
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00:00 The Lycoma fattening pig is destined for a short life.
00:07 But this breed almost vanished altogether.
00:10 Along with the former German Democratic Republic, the Lycoma pig was bred in this region with
00:15 its fertile soil.
00:21 The Lycoma breed still exists, thanks to Wouter Ueland.
00:26 But he is likely its last breeder.
00:29 Around 2,500 Lycoma piglets are born at his farm every year.
00:34 "We will take them to a feedlot in the next village 10 kilometers away, where they will
00:41 stay for the next 10 or 11 months until they weigh 180 kilos.
00:46 Then they are ready for slaughter."
00:49 It's their fate, after all.
00:52 Lycoma is an abbreviation for Leipzig, Cottbus and Magdeburg, the three East German regions
00:57 where the pigs were bred.
01:04 In factory farms and feedlots like this, 170,000 pigs were kept packed into close confines
01:12 with automated feeding.
01:14 Above all for lucrative pork exports to the West.
01:19 But this came with obstacles.
01:21 The Lycoma pig wasn't well suited to this kind of breeding environment.
01:28 "They are individualistic, stubborn, with a mind of their own.
01:36 The conditions in the big facilities weren't easy for the animals and each pig had to struggle
01:40 to get by."
01:45 But before things really came to a head on the farms, the entire GDR and the Lycoma pig
01:51 came to an end.
01:54 Western breeds were more profitable.
01:57 Reunified Germany almost allowed the Lycomas to die out.
02:02 Until Wouter Uland arrived from the Netherlands and recognized the potential of the East German
02:08 pigs.
02:09 On his farm in rural Saxony-Anhalt, the Lycomas are allowed out into the fresh air come
02:15 rain or shine.
02:17 "They're tough pigs and they're actually much better suited to today's free-range
02:24 farming than highly productive conventional pigs are."
02:31 Shaggy bristles protect the pig's skin from the sun.
02:35 In the early morning in Berlin, the next stages of production are underway.
02:47 This premium butcher is one of Wouter Uland's regular customers.
02:52 Today he's taking a shipment of Lycoma pork sides.
02:56 The men have their work cut out for them.
03:05 "They're heavier than other pigs and these ones are especially heavy.
03:09 These are really big pieces."
03:11 There's plenty of fat on the ribs and the meat looks different from supermarket produce.
03:16 "Lycoma meat is naturally darker in color.
03:20 Nowadays, most conventional pork actually looks more like chicken breast."
03:26 Butcher Markus Benzer is convinced by the Lycoma pig and East Germany's decision to
03:32 breed it.
03:33 "The GDR was trying to revive a classic farm pig because they recognized exactly what I've
03:41 recognized - that traditional methods don't work well with modern industrial animal farming."
03:56 People love to hear that everything was bad in the GDR.
03:59 But I can tell you, this was a really good idea, a really good initiative.
04:08 The Ulands also sell Lycoma products in their farm shop.
04:15 At higher prices than standard supermarket goods.
04:19 Keeping the animals is more expensive than it was in GDR times.
04:24 But the breeders have no interest in factory farming.
04:29 "That's awful.
04:34 We don't have to eat meat every day.
04:36 Eating a little less would be better for the climate, for the environment and for the animals
04:41 too."
04:42 "If I had to put them in pens and pack them in as tightly as back then, I'd have to close
04:48 down.
04:49 I wouldn't become a vegetarian, but I wouldn't enjoy breeding pigs anymore."
04:57 With a gentle touch for a tough pig.
05:00 This is how Wouter Uland wants to continue his animal farming, even under democracy and
05:06 in times of declining meat consumption.
05:08 (gunshot)