If you want a Highlander, get in line.
Demand for the luscious Scottish cow is through the roof and this extends to the polled (no horns) variety.
Julia Webster runs the Mayfield Poll Highland Cattle stud outside Ballarat.
She said demand for the polled Highlanders had been amazing.
“Not just for me, but every member of our society has many on their waiting lists,” Julia said.
“The society is growing in leaps and bounds far exceeding our expectations. If only we all had lots to sell.”
The Poll Highland Cattle Society started in 2015 after breeders found some buyers were intimidated by the horns.
Polled cattle are also more economical when steers are being raised for slaughter as they fit abattoir safety standards.
On top of all that demand, breeders are also expanding into miniature Highlanders.
“I have started a new line this year to also breed some miniature Highlanders,” Julia said.
How mini? Anything under 42 inches (one metre) to the top of the hip bone is classed as ‘miniature’.
The miniatures could be the new face of the traditional beef breed.
For years hobby farmers have been flocking to the red-heads without realising how truly big the breed grows.
Julia will be at the expo to talk all things Highlander with anyone keen enough to walk up to her.