My family have always been in farming and they have a long history in
Highland Cattle. My father kept a herd of highland cattle until 1950 and
my great uncle,John Christie,owned the famous Gartlea Fold close to Loch
Lomond.

We bought our first highlanders in 1987 (3 heifers from Cladich) and the
Craigowmill Fold expanded to nearly 200 cows at one time. More recently we
have reduced the Fold to 45 cows to accommodate the same number of
pedigree Angus and a small herd of Beef Shorthorns.

I believe that Highland Cattle should be hardy and able to live on a low
quality diet and I do not like to see overfit cattle. They are bred to
convert low quality forage into high quality beef which gives them a
unique place in the cattle hierarchy.

Our breeding policy is to produce large attractive females which give
birth easily and whose calves will grow quickly. The Breed needs to become
more commercial to appeal to farmers and broaden our market so that
Highlanders have a commercial value to support prices.

I am very honoured to have been asked to judge the Virtual Show 2016 and I
am looking forward to looking at the best cattle from all over the World.
Please send in lots of entries!!"

I was born into a medium­scale farming business in Delmenhorst in 1958. My parents were among the first to switch from Holstein­Frisian to Jersey cattle.
After an apprenticeship as a gardener and some years of work experience in this area, I opened my own business dealing in flowers, which I run successfully to this day.
Cattle breeding has been a part of my life from an early age and I have worked with different breeds. At first it was just a hobby to gain some pocket money, but taking part in competitions and working towards the breeding goal. I started breeding Highland Cattle 25 years ago. At this time,
cattle had become prestige goods, raising prices for breeding animals.
Nevertheless, I wanted to start with the best available animals. I started with only three cows and one bull, but this herd grew quickly. After some years of intense breeding, there are now three excellent bulls breeding with 12­16 mothercows. My breeding goal has been the establishment of my herd's name „of Geenfield“ and it's recognition over many generations. I have seen many changes in breeding culture during my 25 years of Highland breeding, but have stayed true to my style of breeding, which led to the development of the „Greenfield Type“. Shows have always been my passion, although nowadays I question the necessity to bring 5­6
a speaker for the states of Lower­Saxony and Bremen. My goal today is to support young Highland Cattle breeders.
I take pride in the appreciation of my breeding competence across borders, which has lead to myassignment as HC judge in Austria, Denmark and Thuringia.
One last word:
I would never have met so many interesting and lovely people from all across the world, if I hadn't
started Highland breeding.