Thanks for posting this article. I apologize for not seeing it right away - I'm still learning my way around the forum and the nifty buttons such as "how unread posts since last visit".
I visited the good folks at the Livestock Conservancy last year (South Carolina) with my family. I was impressed to see so many folks working together to revive several critically endangered breeds of heritage livestock. In order to save the breed, efforts are made to locate individual animals who have the best traits (large litters, good conformation (personality), size and shape for their purpose, etc), breed them and then start the process again. they commonly teach the participating farmers to "breed the best and eat the rest". similar to the point of your article.
I see that the Livestock Conservancy will conduct it's annual National Conference in Austin, TX this year. Maybe it's time for a roadtrip from Minnesota. I hear they have good bbq in texas