Its quiet self-confidence makes it a docile, reliable animal, one that even beginners can handle with ease. The Highland is one of the few breeds of cattle that still has its natural instincts. Even its hide makes a good blanket or rug. Its horns can be polished for decorations, and its hair can be spun into yarn. The breed can also pull a plow or a wagon, clear land of brush, and protect sheep from predators. Its milk is particularly well suited to making value-added products such as cheese and butter. The Highland also does moderately well as a homestead dairy animal. For more conventional beef, it can be crossed with a marbled breed such as the Angus. The breed performs very well as a lean beef animal in low-input and organic systems, particularly when direct marketed. Although it does make a good pet, tourist attraction, or photographer’s model, the Highland has so much more to offer. In America, the Highland largely has a reputation as a novelty animal kept mainly for its good looks. What will become of the traditional hardy Highland remains to be seen. Some bloodlines are raised mainly for looks, while others are bred to be fast-growing producers of conventional marbled beef. The Highland breed is currently caught in a tug-of-war between the conflicting interests of the show ring and the commodity market. Popularity never comes without risks, however. Thanks to its toughness and unique appearance, it won a steady following right from the start, and the recent enthusiasm for small farms, heritage breeds, and natural foods has brought it unprecedented attention. The Highland is now found in small herds (called folds) all across America. From there the breed spread across America, and by the early 1950s Canada and America were regularly exchanging Highland cattle. As the Highland proved itself in that cold climate, cattlemen in states such as Montana and Wyoming started their own herds to improve some of the less hardy but more popular beef breeds. Although it may have arrived with Scotch-Irish emigrants at an earlier date, the first recorded importation was to Manitoba, Canada, in 1882. It is unclear when the Highland first came to North America. Some of the descendants of the Scottish cattle drivers would also go on to start the cattle drive era in America. Tens of thousands of cattle were driven south to the border country between Scotland and England to be fattened on lusher pastures. Some crofters even brought cattle into the house at night to heat the upper story!īetween 17, the British recognized the value of Highland beef. Crofters (small-scale tenant farmers) used their strength to haul heavy loads, their hair to spin durable clothing, and their milk and meat for food. Highland cattle made existence possible in Scotland. Small, hairy, and horned, the Highland could fight both bitter winters and savage wolves-and win. Little wonder, then, that its cattle were equally wild and rugged, well suited for a struggle for existence in a harsh climate. The north Atlantic coast of Scotland is a particularly wild, rugged region.
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