MEET THE.....
Finally, with respect to Bill Shankly, keeping Highlanders is not just a matter of life & death, it is much much more important than that!!
8. Best advice for a newcomer into Highland Cattle. Listen to advise but make up your own mind!
7. Best and worst advice you have ever received. I listen to advice but make up my own mind.
6. Abiding memory? Our days spent with Archie & Nancy Howat at the Rigg Fold where we learned so much about farming in general and Highland Cattle in particular. There was nowhere like it and we still miss them over 20 years on.
5. Changes over the years, good and bad? The biggest change has been the promotion & sale of cattle via social media and the lack of interest in Pedigrees from buyers and sellers alike. There is no substitute for seeing an animal in the flesh with as many of its relatives as possible, at the very least the sire & dam.
Female - Princess Dubh 7th of Rigg – Best female from the Rigg Fold. Siusan Ruadh 22nd of Leachy – Brought out by the Mackay boys at the Society Sale in February 1994. Her daughter Siusan Ruadh 26th was Champion out of a total sale entry of 205 but even at 14 years old Siusan Ruadh 22nd was the better cow.
4. What is the best animal you have ever seen? Bull - Prionnsa Dubh of Craigowmill – Stock bull at Balmoral. For me he was untouchable in the show ring but even more impressive marching towards us out of the woodland at Balmoral; a sight never to be forgotten!!
3. What is the best animal you have ever bred? Seumus Dubh of Craigowmill. There has never been a highland bull with his remarkable growth rate and he is breeding well here in the UK and wherever his semen is available. Rob Wills at UK Sires described him as ‘A Gamechanger for the Breed’.
2. What qualities do you like about the breeds you work with? Easy Keep. This is easy calving, vigorous calves suckling without assistance, grass diet, fatten easily, top quality beef.
1. What are your favourite breeds? A field of highlanders is such a magnificent sight that they are incomparable for eye appeal. However, our Native Angus are a close second with their remarkable traits which seem to me to fit the modern-day requirements for beef cattle.
Q&A
President - Ken Brown (Craigowmill Fold)
Ken Brown.
I come from a farming family which goes back a long way. At home we have the family grandfather clock which was made for my great-great-great grandfather, John Brown of Dolphinton (South of Edinburgh) in 1765. The Browns had been farming there for a number of generations before that. On my mother’s side her uncle John Christie had a fold of Highland Cattle from the early 1900’s eventually settling at Gartlea at the southern end of Loch Lomond. There were highland cattle at Gartlea until relatively recently although they were not registered after the 1950’s. My father farmed near Falkirk, where I was born, and kept highlanders until 1950 when we moved to a mixed commercial farm in West Lothian. Unfortunately, he fell seriously ill when I was at university and he decided to sell the farm. Eva and myself bought Craigowmill Farm in 1983 while I was still working in London. I commuted at weekends until 1989 when I started a business in Edinburgh and had a daily commute over the Forth Bridge! We decided to buy a highlander after Eva went on a trip through the Highlands and on her return told me that she has seen some very impressive creatures grazing in a field and wanted to know what they were. In typical female style she said that she wanted one or more. Since that day the Fold has been a partnership between us although I am sure you can guess who is in charge! We bought our first heifer calf at Oban in October 1989 from Cladich and soon thereafter bought 2 more privately from David Fellowes – red, yellow & white. The red and white heifers unfortunately were non breeders but the yellow Molly 22nd of Cladich lived to be 23 years of age. Her granddaughter Molly 6th of Craigowmill had a major influence at the Mottistone fold where she featured in many pedigrees at their dispersal and was dam of the prolific Eoin Mhor 8th. The Craigowmill fold grew during the 1990’s particularly after 1996 when it was difficult to sell highlanders due to BSE. At one time we had 200 pure cows and a herd of 50 cross highland cows put to an Angus bull. Nowadays, in retirement, we have a more manageable fold of 40 cows together with a herd of 60 Native (pure Scottish) Aberdeen Angus and a handful of Beef Shorthorns. Our policy is to be as close as possible to 100% grass fed which surely must be the future in the current world climate. Craigowmill is now 600 acres consisting of a mixture of arable, permanent pasture, hill ground and woodland with views over the whole vale of Leven. It is a magnificent setting greatly enhanced by the Highlanders – truly a match made in Heaven!!
10 Highland Breeders’ Journal 2022
