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 who build up a successful manufacturing company in the oil and gas trade with a staff of 100 employees was brought up on the family croft at Smerlie near Lybster, Caithness.

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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 the 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 parade the heifer at most of the breed shows this year including the Royal Highland and the Great Yorkshire.

Kirsty and Andrew, who had been looking to buy a Highland heifer for some time, had 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 me, 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 around them 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 don’t see them with a hump on their back on a rough day, they just get on with it.”

The cattle are easily maintained too and require half the work and feeding of his commercial Friesian cross Herefords which as a result could see more producers look to Highland.

“We could end up with more Highlands on farms with the huge increase in feed prices. Highland cattle do not require the same input costs associated with most suckler breeds, so we are going back to smaller and cheaper cattle as they are less expensive to keep than our ewes."

He added that the Highlanders receive some silage outside over winter, and a general-purpose lick bucket, which compared to a huge cattle shed with a feed hopper, and feed wagon is so much cheaper in comparison.

They also require minimal maintenance, having had their feet trimmed and the odd wormer only. They also calve unattended outside in July and August.

Instead, the cattle graze permanent pasture fields some 500m from the sea and can be found with foam on their heads after a storm.

Once calved, they however move onto fresher pasture.

Andrew aims to grow the fold to around 10 pedigree cows of traditional breeding by buying in-calf heifers mostly at Oban where the best quality stock is sold.

He will be looking to buy a stock bull in the future too and has high hopes of finding a bull with a great presence, bloodlines and the potential to be shown. And, as the fold grows, he hopes to have stock good enough to be sold at Oban, with those that fail to meet the grade, fattened off the farm.

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The cattle will not only be turning heads in the show ring but also with the public with the guided farm tours. Daughter Christina came up with the idea to open the farm to the public to allow people to pet, cuddle, feed, and brush a wide range of farm animals. At the petting farm called Farm Stop, which opened last April, the Polsons have sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, donkeys, ducks, chickens, and alpacas. The farm is supported by Andrew’s wife Kerry, daughter Shanon and stockman Raymond Smith.

“Since we opened it has gone from strength to strength. It is nice to see people interacting with the animals, and it's more often adults rather than kids. We recently ran an adults-only night which was a great success,” said Andrew.

“Visitors to Farm Stop always love the Highlanders and they get a surprise seeing a black one as they assume the cattle are all red. It is a good story to tell the public the cows were originally black.”

Andrew has always had a passion for pedigree park-type North Country Cheviot sheep too.

“Growing up in Caithness we had Cheviots on the croft and since 2014 we have been building up a pedigree flock. With help from friend and breed expert Tom Munro, and my late father John to help set me in the right direction we have been successful in the sale and show ring.”

One of Andrew’s best years was in 2018 when his Cheviots were paraded at five shows and finished with 35 trophies. That year he scooped the overall champion Cheviot at both Sutherland and Caithness Shows staged the same day. The following year, Andrew sold a shearling ram for £6500 at the breed sale at Lockerbie down to Wales.

If Andrew’s success in breeding North Country Cheviots is anything to go by then the Highland cattle will be showing and selling well in the years to come.

Farm facts

Farm stats: Glenfinnan farm 100 acres, Upper Anguston 200 acres 15 miles away at Peterculter and the home croft, Smerlie in Caithness.

Farm team: Twin daughters Christina and Shanon, stockman Raymond Smith, Kirsty Neil who assists with the cattle and shows, and wife Kerry who helps keep the business together

Background: Brought up on a croft and went off to the oil and gas sector before returning to agriculture

Size and type of farm: Lowground coastal farm. Would have grown typical Aberdeenshire crops such as growing barley and rearing cattle.

Livestock: Five highland cattle, 200 North Country Cheviots, 20 pygmy goats, three donkeys, 10 boer goats, 6 alpacas, Ryeland sheep, Dorset sheep, Kerryhill sheep, Wensleydale sheep, 14 Valais Blacknose ewes, ducks, hens, guinea pigs, rabbits, and six pigs.

On The spot

Best investment: Valais blacknose sheep as they have left the biggest margin of all farm animals

Biggest achievement: Winning champion of champions at the Black Isle show in 2018 with a North Country Cheviot.

Best advice: Listen to your elders. I remember one older farmer telling me to ‘stick with it’ and he was right, it will come good.

Favourite show: Black Isle show

Biggest goal for next decade: Establish a nice small fold of Highland cattle and do well at shows.

Where do you see yourself in 2033: I would like to purchase some more land and expand the farming enterprise.

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