FEW breeds of cattle have as much history attached to them as Highland cattle do, and this February will see the 125th Highland Cattle Show and Sale held in Oban.

A highlight in the breed calendar each year, it attracts breeders from the length and breadth of the country, all with their own histories behind them.

One fold that has more history that most, though, is that at Achnacloich, between Connel and Taynuilt, overlooking the picturesque Loch Etive on the A85 on the way to Oban.

In the world of Highland cattle, you are hard pushed to find a pedigree fold which has remained in the same ownership if the same family and on the same land, with continually registered cattle for more than 100 years, and that is exactly what you find at Achnacloich.

The family in question are the Nelsons. Originally publishers, based in Edinburgh, the Achnacloich Estate first came into their hands in 1892.

The foundation of the Achnacloich fold commenced in 1901 when the tenancy of Culandalloch Farm was terminated and some of the Culandalloch cattle belonging to Malcolm Sinclair were brought over to lay the foundation of the fold.

It is Lorne Nelson that is now at the helm, overseeing the farm and its stock, and the farm is under the management of local man, Peter Sinclair, who has been full-time at Achnacloich since 2009, having helped out on the farm since he was a young boy.

He has the help of two younger members of staff, one full-time, and one part-time, who take on a lot of the feeding of the cattle and the tractor work.

Peter is in charge of the cattle and other farm work on a day to day basis, but Lorne is heavily involved, especially with the paperwork side of goings on.

There is no longer any sheep on Achnacloich, but they take on hoggs for wintering and have just entered a scheme that will see them carry ewes from January through to March. Something that both Peter and Lorne believe is good for the ground.

Lorne also has a Luing herd that runs on another local farm. "I would never look past the Highlander though," he admitted. "Apart from anything, the fold is so historical and so ingrained in our family as well, that you could never replace that. In my mind, the bloodlines we have are priceless - there is so much history to them."

As far as the Oban show and sale is concerned, there has been a consignment from the Achnacloich fold at the sale for many years, but this year they won't have any going for the best possible reason.

"We usually have a team of heifers for the February sale, but sadly that is not the case this year," explains Lorne. "This is because we are trying to up our stock numbers on the farm."

"I would like to get us up to a level 100-head of breeding females. That means that we're retaining all of our heifer crop this year, when we would usually be keeping the majority and selling some through the ring."

That number doesn't include heifers and young stock and, as things stand, there are 86 females on Achnacloich that go to the bull. They run on 1200 ha of hill and in-by land, interspersed by vast areas of oak woodland.

"We have the ground capacity to carry more cattle," Peter added, "so the decision has been taken to up the stock numbers. We still won't exactly be densely stocked!"

"As well as this, there is only one breeding female in the fold that is bought in and not of our own breeding, so we want to stick to that foundation and keep with our own bloodlines. So that's why we're keeping all of the heifers back this year.

"We usually sell some when they are rising three-years-old but not this February - we will obviously be back at the Oban sale in the future, though, and we'll be going along this year. It's definitely a highlight in the Highland calendar that we wouldn't think of missing out on!"

The whole team at Achnacloich are clearly committed to Highland cattle - their own and as a breed overall - and this is demonstrated by their desire to increase their herd numbers. Both Peter and Lorne cannot speak highly enough of them.

"I think Highlanders are ideal for many reasons," explained Peter. "Here, at Achnacloich, they are well suited to the ground we have. They do well running on the hill, which is very important and they deal with the weather too. They have to be hardy and they prove time after time that they are exactly that.

"As well as their overall resilience, they are also very good at the calving. The vast majority calf away themselves and the rare problems we do see tend to be after calving, not before or during."

Lorne can't be complimentary enough of Highland cattle as a breed. "The interesting thing about Highlanders is the fact they don't even need to get to the feeder every day," he added. "They happily go every few days, and survive on the terrain the rest of the time. They're tough and self-sufficient."

"Personally, I think it is interesting that they are the only proper long haired breed on the British Isles - there are areas that experience a worse climate than I think we do in this part of Argyll, but here we are with what I would say is the most resilient, hard wearing breed there is to offer!"

Bull wise, Lorne and Peter buy at Oban, and are on the lookout for a new stock bull this year, with their previous sire having come to the end of his tenure.

"Getting a good bull can be a difficult task when you have quite a lot of cows like we do, you have to be sure that you are getting something suitable and that is going to knit well with our female bloodlines," admitted Peter.

"I look at a bull's physique to make sure he has suitable features, like a good straight back. We don't want them overly big, though. He can't be too heavy either, as he has to go out and work on soft, rough ground. Basically, he needs to be fit!"

Although they keep the majority of their heifers, bullocks from Achnacloich get sent to Oban at the start of each October. Peter believes modern Highland bullocks have become a valuable commodity and they sell them on in their natural state.

"To be perfectly honest, they are on the hill with their mothers until two weeks before they go to the sale," Peter explained. "They maybe don't quite match up to other commercial counterparts, but they also don't incur the feeding costs that others get either. They're natural. That final two weeks is the only time we will give them a bite to eat."

The resilience of the Highland breed is clearly shown at Achnacloich, but so is the potential scope for the future.

"As Peter says, maybe they cannot compete in the market in the same way as their commercial counterparts can, but would we want them to?" said Lorne. "The Highland breed is one of history and it is a unique breed of cattle in many ways."

"It has its own strengths and I think these are an ideal foundation for us to build on for the future in a bid to keep the breed moving forward as positively as it has been!"