PORTERFIELD EXOTICS

Scottish Highland Cattle

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Scottish Highland Cattle are the oldest known breed of beef cattle.  They are a breed that has developed naturally over many centuries of time rather than a breed developed by the crossing of other breeds.  They have been kept for thousands of years in the Northern Scottish Highlands and have developed to be a very hardy breed. 

  Their long coat keeps them warm in the coldest of winter climates as well as helping to keep the biting insects off in the warmer months.  They are easy calving and their parental instincts are very good, the bellowing of a calf in distress will draw the attention of the herd and they will come to the assistance of the calf.  This instinctive behavior is very beneficial in areas where predators prey on the young calves, a coyote or a wolf attempting to make a calf an easy meal will get more than it bargained for.

  They are considered a premium beef, slow growing and able to convert poor quality forage to fine textured meat.  The Scottish Highland is the preferred Beef of the English Royalty, in fact they maintain a large fold of Scottish Highland Cattle at one of the castles for their own privately grown beef.

Scottish Highlands have been in the US since 1884 when American cattle growers imported them into the US to cross to their beef breeds and improve their bloodlines.  The Scottish Highland bloodlines were an important factor in a number of popular beef breeds of today.  The pure Scottish Highland was very close to becoming non-existent in America until recent years when they have made a huge comeback.  With today's growing market for leaner feed produced with less grain and more grass the Highland is flourishing on many small scale privately owned farms and ranches.  The Highland is a preferred choice for many of America's Organic Beef growers.