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Again, we welcome you to Oz highland Farm. Our
farm is owned and operated by John and Debbie
Jenkins of Auburn Kansas. We have both been raised
on farms and we continue the tradition with the
Scottish Highland Cattle.
We purchased 3 Highlands as a gift to John's Mother
to honor her Scottish heritage. But in the end we got
hooked. Being impressed with what we saw, the
search was on for additional breeding stock. We have
grown our herd to over 150 Highlands (and counting)
with 4 working bulls. Each spring we await the
newest Oz Highland Farm results. Did we match the
right cow with the right bull? Only as the spring
calves start hitting the ground will we know for sure.
Oz Highland Farm consists of 600 acres. Some of the
land has been in John's family since settling here in
the 1850's. The old farm house, where John's Mother
lives and was born in was built in 1856. She is happy
to look out her windows each day and report back to
us if she sees a new calf. She loves to be the first one
on the hill with news.
Our Highlands are raised with care. We maintain our
cattle on a balanced mineral program, free choice hay
during the winter months, cool season grasses during
the spring and fall and during the summer months we
run the Highlands on native prairie grass and
legumes. Our Highlands are never given any type of
growth enhancing drugs or antibiotic feed. We raise
all natural beef from the land.
We strive to improve the herd through our selection
and culling program. Our goal is to not keep or sell
any animal that would pass on genetics which would
lower the animals conformation or gentleness. It's
important to us that any animal we sell is of good
quality not only as breeding stock but for meat
quality as well.
Other characteristics of Highland cattle is their
grazing habits. They eat and browse what is there
while clearing timbers of brush, cedar trees and other
undesirable vegetation. Cedar trees will take over a
pasture in a very short time and are a major problem
here in Kansas. Highlands love cedars and as you can
see from the photos on the left, they don't leave much
when they are finished. Any branches within reach of
a Highland is fair game and become great places to
scratch and eventually they are broken off and then,
in comes the chain saw. They can clear a small
timber in less than 1 year. The more time they are in
it, the more they will stomp and break off everything
they can. We have found this to be of great benefit to
us as it makes clearing out larger cedars and other
undesirable vegetation that much easier. It makes
fencing easier and when you have cattle, fencing is
always a job waiting for you.
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