At the August Trafalgar Farmers’ Market I was surprised and delighted to see three Scottish Highland cows (also affectionately known as ‘Heilan Coos’) being introduced to the public. These long-haired, long-horned gentle animals attracted a lot of attention with kids and adults alike, lined up to look, to smile, to pat and to be photographed.
The oldest of the three is a four-year-old female named ‘Murphy’ and she was alert and bright and studied everything around her. Weighing in at 400 kilos, this small statured but solid animal was the major attraction. In the pen with her was her owner and breeder Glenn Adams, who was answering questions and all the time gently currying Murphy’s long red coat.
Longhorn Scottish Highland cows have had a checkered existence in Australia.
Scottish immigrants brought small numbers of this hardy breed to Australia from the mid-nineteenth century, but approximately fifty years later, none remained. The breed was re-established in 1954 with the importation of two cows and a bull from Scotland.
Glenn and his wife run Serenity Farm in Yarragon and Traf District News asked Glenn what sparked his interest in this unusual breed.
“Basically, it’s just the love of animals. I’m an ex-dairy farmer, and I left dairy farming quite some time ago and just fretted for farming again.
“We used to show Jerseys down at [the] Melbourne Show, and my wife would always disappear and go down to the beef section and look at the Highland cows and always said she wanted one.
“So, I bought one about six years ago, and now we’ve got about 50 of them running around the paddock.
“These are a heritage-listed breed and the genetic gene pool is getting thin. So, we are all about preserving the purity of the breed.
“We import some semen from Scotland and try and keep that gene pool pure and not mix it with anything.
“When the Vikings turned up in Scotland they came across these in cattle and that’s where the cups and drinking horns came from.”
Serenity Farm is set in serene country in the hills south of Yarragon and is open to the public to come and spend some time among the animals.
There are more than fifty highland cows and you can picnic among them, take walking tours of the farm, have a photo session with them by a professional photographer on site, and enjoy the quiet energy of the farm and these gentle animals.
While you are there patting and enjoying the cows, Glenn will give you a run down on the breed and what they are doing at Serenity Farm to preserve it. It will be a great family day out.
You can contact Glenn Adams via email: glenn@serenityfarm.com.au or through Facebook.
