Borland Farm is situated at 1200 ft in beautiful Glenshee between Blairgowrie and Braemar.
Specialising in Highland Cattle, Hebridean Sheep and Belted Galloway cattle.
Organic (Soil Association Certified)
Export enquires are welcome
The farm comprises approximately 750 acres of heather moorland and 250 acres of rough grazing and improved grassland.
The farm comprises approximately 650 acres of
heather moorland, 250 acres of rough grazing and
improved grassland and about 100 acres of mixed
woodland. The main farm steading sits at 1200 ft
above sea level and the hills rise to a peak of 2440 ft at
the summit of Mount Blair.
The Highland Cattle Fold on Borland farm was
started in 1996 and shortly afterwards the foundation
stock of the current Hebridean flock arrived.
The Highalnd Cattle fold is founded on old blood lines of all recognised colours. The emphasis is on blood lines from the Western Isles of Scotland including Mull and Uist. Folds featuring in our pedigrees include; Achnacloich, Ardbhan, Balinoe, Glenogle, Cladich, Ormsary, Torloisk and Woodneuk.
After having seen Belted Galloway cattle on a farm visit in 2005, it was decided to start a small fold of pedigree Belted Galloway cattle.
All of our stock are kept extensively and reared to
organic standards and this is monitored by Soil Association. Borland Farm also subscribes to
Scottish Food Quality Certification (SFQC)
standards and has attained for many years now, full
membership to the their Quality Meat Scotland
(QMS) farm assured scheme.
As all our animals are native breeds, they are well
suited to being reared outdoors all year round without
prophylactic chemicals or intensive practices, in a
gentle and extensive manner. Their unselective grazing
and foraging habits are acknowledged by conservation
authorities to enhance the flora on hill ground and
therefore improve the habitat for wildlife. Our animals
have been raised in a traditional manner and will have
had a guaranteed quality of life. They are allowed to
develop and grow at a rate dictated by nature and the
environment..
We produce our own haylage for winter feeding. Organic farming is well suited to the highlands of Scotland, much of which is naturally organic already. An addition to the farm stock in 1998 which fits in well with the organic image is Hebridean sheep which assist in control of obnoxious weeds such as ragwort and their close cropping of grass assists seeding with clover for natural nitrogen generation. They are the one breed of sheep that can improve heather growth on moorland. We have a great interest in improving the habitat of our moorland areas which until 1996 were heavily grazed with black-faced sheep. These have been replaced by the highland cattle and the changes in the heather biomass has been monitored under a joint project between The Game Conservancy Trust and the World Pheasant Association. Already major improvements in heather regeneration have been recorded as well as improvements in red grouse numbers and other moorland birds.
Articles under the title of 'The Learning Curve' record the problems of setting up a Highland cattle fold and make a useful introduction for newcomers. Borland Farm has specialised in studying the benefits of Highland cattle and Hebridean sheep for conservation grazing with research help on the farm carried out by The Game Conservancy Trust.
Borland farm has a unique relationship with Highland Drovers of Perth, a small company that offers a high quality butchering and packaging service, and using Highland Drovers we are able to offer bespoke boxes of Organic Highland Beef and Hebridean lamb delivered to your door. Please visit www.highlanddrovers.co.uk or call 01738 561523 to obtain more information.
Beltie Stock bull Tavish of Balindean Heather of Borland
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Highland Cattle Galore
By Una Cochrane
Only £9.99 including P & P (uk)
(Send us your contact details and we will get in touch)
This is a must have booklet for all with an interest in Highland Cattle.At first glance it appears to be sixty pages of delightful photographs, paintings and old picture postcard reproductions of Highland Cattle , many going back to the 1800's. However what makes this a really fascinating read is the very informative and well researched text by Una Cochrane that accompanies them.
In subtle ways the author makes her points and reveals her deep knowledge of the breed. The bulls illustrated on page 47 are a case in point and I certainly could not find a bull illustrated whether from the 1800's or 1900's that did not conform strictly to the original standard for the breed.If you search within the text you will even discover why in the authors opinion a few (very few) Highland Cattle caught BSE.
This is undoubtedly an extremely enjoyable booklet to browse through but it is also educational over the origins and history of the breed and in particular concentrates on the days of the Drovers and marketing Trysts.There is humour too and little gems of information such as a Highland Bull featured in an early Bovril advertisement and the rich creamy milk of Highland cows being used in the making of "Tablet" (scotlands wonderful fudge) in the 1920's.
What this publication does not do is cover in any way the successful keeping of and breeding from Highland cattle. For that you have to go to a much earlier book written by Una Cochrane called "With a keen eye" which surprisingly does not get a mention.Whether because of modesty on the part of the author or perhaps its being out of print I know not . If the latter perhaps Stenlake publishing will reprint it.
