The Highlanders are coming

Oban welcomes the 128th spring show of the Highland Cattle Society which has the largest number of entries in years

Records look set to be broken at the 128th Highland Cattle sale in Oban next week.

The catalogue for the forthcoming sale and show is bulging; it boasts the largest number of entries for several years and it is attracting serious interest from breed enthusiasts at home and abroad.

The total of 55 bulls and 70 females on offer is going to mean a packed ringside at the sales and there is another unique feature: 12 black bulls on sale, a record entry number.

A spokesman for the Highland Cattle Society said:‘ This is by far the largest consignment of black Highland bulls at the Oban event for well over a century; gone are the days when it was nigh on impossible to find a black Highland bull in any fold.’

There will be a selection from 10 leading folds which will include two from HM Queen’s Balmoral fold along with entries from Ardbhan, Craigluscar, Cailaich, Hope, Allanfearn and Culloden folds.

Many of the bulls on offer were shown throughout the summer 2018 season and will be in the show ring again on Sunday, February 10, prior to the Monday sale.

It is an impressive line up; the breed champion from the Great Yorkshire Show, as well as the overall reserve champion and reserve male champion from the Royal Highland Show. Champions from the Black Isle and Biggar shows are also competing for the top awards in the Oban show ring.

These will be joined by others from the more remote corners of the country which as yet have never graced a show ring; they have every chance of coming out on top at Oban, as has been the case in the past.

There is also an excellent selection in all the female sections; remember that October’s show and sale saw the record price for a Highland heifer calf equalled when the dun-coloured nine-month-old Sonasag the Second of Cladich sold for 4,000 guineas – matching the previous record set at the first sale in the then-new Oban Livestock Centre on October 1994 when the Auchnacraig fold sold Fiach of Auchnacraig to Mrs DO Wain for 4,000 guineas.

The spring sale features in-calf heifers from Mottistone, Craigowmill, Glengarnock folds and Arbhan, North Uist.

The bulling heifer classes have some of the oldest folds in the breed including Woodneuk, Pollok and Borland, Hynford and Seam.

The two-year-old classes feature folds from a wide area, Kelby from south of the border; Ceannacroic, from Islay and also Gray Brae, Corntown, Ashmore, and Gartocharn. The Dempster family’s Teaghlach fold will be selling for the first time on their own account.

The yearling classes will comprise entries from Craigluscar, Shenavallie, Mosscairn, Glengorm, Kynedor and Edgertson fold from south of the border.

A feature at the spring sale will be a draft consignment of in-calf heifers from Iain and Sheena Graham’s well-known Killochries fold, going through the ring at the end of the sale in the un-haltered section. They will be in calf to Uilleam of Dumyat and Challenger of Mottistone. This is going to give the pedigree breeders an opportunity for some new genetics and should also attract breeders who focus on the production of highly-popular cross-Highland heifers.

Sunday’s show

The show takes place on Sunday February 10, beginning at 10am.

This year the judge is Haydn Alun Garton with Jimmy Laing as chief steward. The stewards will be: John Singer, Jim Ogston, Robert Tedbury and Roy Abel-Wright.

Trophies from the show will be presented at the society’s dinner and ceilidh in the Royal Hotel, Oban on Sunday night.

The sale will begin at 10am on Monday February 11.

A great get-together

The Highland Cattle Society’s sales and shows are a chance for the owners of all the folds to come together and socialise

alongside the important business of running the society.

Saturday’s programme includes a meeting of the society’s council, the AGM, a drinks reception and a forum.

This includes experienced breeders talking to members about their farm systems, breeding programmes, feeding plans and route to market; question time follows and then there is an open forum which is a great opportunity for breeders old and new to share ideas.

Bull measurement will take place at 2pm at the market. The prize giving after Sunday’s show will take place during a dinner and ceilidh at the Royal Hotel in Oban; the Royal has been the Highlanders’ social headquarters for the sales and shows since its earliest days.

Young handlers

Monday’s show also gives young handlers a chance to shine.

The prize for best young handler aged 13 - 18 years is the Woodneuk Cup presented by William and Margaret Thomson, Woodneuk Fold, Barrhead.

The young handlers aged 12 or under compete for the Thistle Fold Trophy presented by Annie Perkins of the Thistle Fold.