Highland cattle breeders from all over the UK and Europe will descend on Oban next weekend for the society’s annual spring show and sale.

The two-day event will commence on Sunday 12 February with the pre-sale show judged by Graeme Easton from Forfar, followed by the sale on the Monday which has attracted 90 entries.

One family gearing up for the event are the McConachies from Culfoich Farm, Grantown-on-Spey, who are well-known throughout the Highland cattle world, having exhibited at Oban for over 20 years.

Gordon, who is a past president of the Highland Cattle Society, farms with his wife Alison, and daughters, Keri and Rachael, on the 4,500 acre unit which is predominantly hill ground with 250 acres of in by grassland.

Culfoich has been in the family since 1963 and is home to 20 pedigree Highlanders, 25 pedigree Aberdeen-Angus and 450 Blackface ewes which are bred pure to produce lambs for the store ring at Dingwall.

The native breed was first introduced to the farm almost 30 years ago after Gordon’s mother purchased a cow and heifer calf outfit from the nearby Cardhu fold.

As years went on, the family purchased females from dispersals and the Culfoich fold soon became recognised throughout the country.

Despite many championship wins and top prices of 10,000gns for females and 5,000gns for bulls, Gordon was quick to point out that the breed is hugely undermined when it comes to its commercial ability.

“Highland cattle are most definitely dismissed as being a commercial breed,” said Gordon.

“Our cows are outside all year round and they rarely have a bale of silage in front of them before the first of January. They only come inside for treatment but they are designed to be outside in harsh conditions on low input systems.

“Many could argue that the end product is worth less than a continental calf but the input costs are so much lower. The cows here only receive a bale of silage and mineral buckets.”

‘Highland cattle dismissed as being a commercial breed’ says past president of the Highland Cattle Society

The family has also crossed with the breed successfully, putting the Aberdeen-Angus over the lesser cows and keeping six of the best Highland females to run with the fold’s stock bull, Bryden 2 of Culfoich.

Calves from the fold spend the first winter inside after being weaned but return outside for their second winter. The males calves which aren’t kept for breeding are castrated and are either sold deadweight or through the store ring at Thainstone alongside the Aberdeen-Angus sired calves.

Initially, the family used AI to put quality into the fold but they also reaped success with a West Merkland bull which produced a lot of good females.

A more recent purchase was Jacob 2 of Benmore, purchased as two-year-old in 2014. He went on to sire Bryden 2 of Culfoich, the fold’s main stock bull which is father to the two bulls destined for Oban next week.

These are two similarly aged bulls, Brodie 4 of Culfoich and Fingal 3 of Culfoich, which dam produced the family’s overall heifer champion at Oban in 2021 before going on to sell for 10,000gns.

Fingal’s dam has also been a good breeder and produced a calf which was sold at six months old to Jim and Catherine McKechnie, Gartocharn.

“We bull the heifers at two years of age and although the cows maybe aren’t as big in the long run, it’s an advantage to get a calf out of them a year earlier” said Gordon.

Aberdeen-Angus cattle have been at Culfoich for many years but it’s only in the last 15 years that the family has pushed the pedigree side.

Highland females prove crossing ability when bulled to the Aberdeen-Angus

They are also run commercially on the same diet as the Highlanders and are outside until the middle of January before coming inside for calving at the end of February.

“The Angus breed works well alongside the Highlanders because we can cross between the two, producing progeny for the store ring which will command a premium,” said Gordon.

“We tend to keep one or two replacement females but the rest are sold as yearlings through Thainstone. At the last sale, they sold to average 275p per kg at 420kg.”

As well as the Oban entries, the family also have two Aberdeen-Angus bulls by a privately purchased Blelack sire for sale at Stirling on Monday.

Gordon is also kept busy running McConachie Agri Consulting specialising in all aspects of farming businesses from basic payments and agri-environmental work, to business efficiency and forward planning.