Highlanders hit the spot
THE Glenfinnan Highland cattle fold is one of the youngest registered but it has big ambitions for shows and sales in years to come.
Having just received his registration papers, Andrew Polson’s fold of five Highland cattle, near Portlethen, in Aberdeenshire, is already showcasing the breed to the public as the star attractions on guided farm tours, run by his daughter, Christina.
Although new to large scale farming, Andrew built up a successful manufacturing company in the oil and gas trade with a staff of 100 employees and was brought up on the family croft at Smerlie, near Lybster, Caithness.
Following the sale of the company, he took the opportunity to get more involved in farming which was his first passion growing up on the croft.
“I remember after a stressful day at work how much better you felt after shaking out some feed for my Cheviot ewes!” he said.
That led to the purchase of 40 acres of ground in 2012 and construction of a shed near the coast eight miles south of Aberdeen. This was used as a base for Andrew’s Cheviot flock which has since evolved into a petting farm with the help of daughter, Christina.
On request of a Highland cow for her 21st birthday, Andrew and her toured a few farms and bought Iona, a heifer with heifer calf, Rhona, at foot from Hamish Irvine, at Craigluscar, near Dunfermline, for £2000.
This was the start of the fold which soon grew as Iona was twice AI’d to Alasdair 4 of Woodneuk to produce two calves.
In October, last year, Andrew and his daughter’s friend, Kirsty Neil, another breed enthusiast, jointly bought the black heifer Claggorm 51 of Glengarnock for a record breaking 20,000gns. Kirsty, who has previously shown cattle, will parading the heifer at most of the breed shows this year, including at the Royal Highland and the Great Yorkshire.
Kirsty and Andrew, who had been looking to buy a Highland heifer for some time, visited several herds to buy privately, but were advised to buy at the society sale at Oban.
Andrew said: “When I first saw the black heifer I thought she was stunning and between Kirsty and I, we agreed it was the best animal on the day. At three years of age, she was also selling with her first calf inside her.”
Claggorm 51 of Glengarnock is now based at her new home in Aberdeenshire, while Kirsty, who has her own Highland cattle in rented fields in Angus and works as a full-time butcher at Balgove Larder, St Andrews, travels north from her base in Carnoustie twice a month to help bring out the cattle. This, in turn, allows Andrew the time to attend to his show-winning North Country Cheviots, while Kirsty takes the lead with the Highlanders.
“One of the big advantages of the Highlander is they are easily managed,” said Andrew. “The ones we have are all quiet, we go round them a twice a day and give them a handful of nuts in the morning which keeps them calm. No matter what the weather is, Highlanders always look good in the field – you never don’t see them with a hump on their back on a rough day, they just get on with it.”