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Highland Cattle
 Highland cattle were the earliest registered breed, with their herd book registry established in 1884. Originating from the Highlands and western coastal regions of Scotland. Highland cattle are renowned for their hardiness and with their unmistakable shaggy coats and impressive horns they are a formidable sight.
Highland cattle can be black, brindle, red, yellow or dun in colour, and there is considerable difference of opinions among breeders as to which is preferable. But one thing all breeders of Highland cattle have in common is that groups of their impressive beasts are not called herds like other breeds, but instead are known as “folds”, referring to the open fronted stone shelters of the same name that were used at night to protect the animals from the weather and wolves.
Highland cows are easy calvers and exhibit excellent fertility, mothering ability and longevity. The milk they yield is high in butterfat, producing vigorous, hardy calves which grow rapidly to weaning. These hereditary attributes make the Highland cow an excellent choice both for pure breeding and crossing with other breeds.
Highland beef is slow maturing, producing lean carcasses which are well marbled, giving tender and succulent flesh with a distinctive flavour. With lower levels of fat and cholesterol and a higher protein and iron content than meat from other breeds, it is both nutritious and healthy.
Thanks to the ability of Highland cattle to convert the poorest of pasture into high quality lean beef, they are an ideal breed for low input extensive, or organic systems. With international emphasis being increasingly put on conservation, Highland cattle have gained wider recognition as a land conservation tool, as unlike sheep or deer they control vegetation while allowing trees to regenerate. As a result of this, Highland cattle are now equally at home in the heights of the Austrian Alps and South American Andes as they are in the lowlands of Dutch nature reserves. But they will always be as much a symbol of their Scottish homeland as tartan, kilts and bagpipes.
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