LUING cattle may not be steeped in history like some of Scotland's hill breeds, but through continuous improvement and a thorough classification system, the breed has seen a rise in popularity - not only in Scotland but further afield, too.

That's the view of breed stalwarts, Charles and Mary Symons, who have been working to improve and promote not only their own herd but also the breed in general since their introduction to it nearly 30 years ago.

The husband and wife duo took on the tenancy of the 1521-acre Attonburn, set in the rolling hills just west of Yetholm, near Kelso, back in May, 1989, and it was here that they built up a pedigree herd of 125 females to run alongside an 1100-strong flock of North Country Cheviots which has made a name for itself in its own right.

The breed has gone above and beyond their expectations and it's the temperament of the breed that stands out as, Mary points out, they're so easy to do and no problem for one person to handle alone, a factor that is becoming more and more critical as time goes by.

"When we moved to Attonburn there was a mixture of commercial cows but we needed something better suited to the land. So we went to the Royal Highland Show to have a look at all the hill breeds and saw the Luing Cattle Society stand - we hadn't even heard of the Luing breed back then," pointed out Charles, who is a fieldsman for the Luing Cattle Society and carries out virtually all the bull and dam inspections.

"But the breed features all we could want in a hill cow - hardiness, mothering ability and, above all, a great temperament - so we visited a few established breeders before making our first purchases at the Premier sale held 28 years ago."

That year, the Premier sale was held in Oban before it settled at Castle Douglas some years later, and it was here that the first females were purchased to found the Attonburn herd, which now has four female lines: Mary, Jacqueline, Louise and Rebecca.

"Our theory was, if we buy six or eight of what we consider to be the best heifers in the yard, then we're off to a good start. We weren't too bothered whether they were dear or not as we wanted what we wanted, but inevitably the heifers we fancied were rather popular!" added Charles.

While the initial herd was crossed with a Simmental bull to produce a commercial herd of Sim-Luings, it wasn't until 2001 that the first Luing bull was bought in partnership with Bob Hindmarsh to start focusing on a pedigree herd.

But with foot-and-mouth enforcing restrictions on cattle movements, the first Luing bull never returned from his trip south of the Border to Bob's and only left a dozen or so calves at Attonburn.

So, in the following two years, Benhar Buzzard and the Benhar Thunder-sired Benhar Commando were bought at Castle Douglas.

"Commando really left his stamp on the herd and bred a lot of good heifers - many were retained and the remainder sold well at auction," pointed out Charles.

"One of our mistakes in those early days was selling him as at the time there were a lot of Benhar Thunder sons around and I didn't think there would be a strong market for grand-sons before the gene pool really started to expand."

Another bull that has done well and left some cracking heifers is the 14,000gns Milkieston Master, and a number of heifers, as well as a bull, on offer at Castle Douglas are sired by him.

With many breeders focusing on certain qualities of the breed suited to their ground, for Charles and Mary it's a female with a bigger frame and good nature that's able to cope with the rough hill ground, the introduction of the dam classification scheme 10 years ago set some guidelines as to bulls that are fit for breeding purposes.

Carried out by Charles as he tours Scotland and beyond during his fieldsman duties, the classification system looks at seven key traits - feet, locomotion, udder, teat size, skeletal size, temperament and condition score - and is done on an on-farm basis.

Charles commented: "The dam classification scheme has really helped improve the breed, mainly because breeders are specifically breeding bulls that don't offer low scores for any traits by breeding only their very best cows to the very best bulls in the hope of producing a bull suitable for sale.

As well as this, all bulls are inspected at 18 months old for height and testicle size, which all ensures that only top quality bulls are eligible for sale.

"In fact, the classification system works so well that a number of other societies are looking at it with the intention of introducing something similar to their own breeding guidelines and EBV-based scoring systems, and if we as a society keep going with these continuous improvements then we're definitely on the right track."

Breeding sales may be a key component of any pedigree herd, but the fact that the Luing female can thrive on the hill and still produce and raise a calf with little to no help, which goes to show the viability of this maternal breed.

Calves that don't make the pedigree grade meet their own strong demand too and have been sold on farm as yearlings in the spring. So impressed with their growth rates up to finishing at two years, the same buyers have returned year on year to snap up more of the same.

"They're easily fattened after a second summer on grass and I know many finishers are delighted with how the breed performs.

"What's more is that we've been able to run the pedigree herd with very little costs - during the winter, and before supplemented feeding pre-calving, it costs us £3.50 per head per week to run on the hill compared to £15 plus if kept in a bedded shed and fed forage," said Charles.

With the Attonburn tenancy coming to an end in November, 2017, the main portion of the herd has already been dispersed and met a flying trade at St Boswells last June, where more than 100 head cashed in to average £2492 - a price that greatly surpassed expectations.

"That day was all about the Luings and while there was still a number of friends that supported myself and Mary, it went to show the popularity of the breed and the strong demand for Luing cattle as they sold for at least £500 per head better than a regular commercial breeding sale.

"In recent years we've seen a large number of buyers come up from England and Wales to invest in the breed thanks to the various schemes for native-sired beef south of the Border, but these breeders have been so impressed that they're buying more and more each year."

It's at the Premier sale next month - which is celebrating its 51st anniversary while the society itself will celebrate its own 50th anniversary with an open day at the breed's birthplace, the Isle of Luing, in August - that some of the final Attonburn Luings will be up for grabs.

Heading to Castle Douglas are three bulls - Attonburn Salvador, by Craigdarroch Minstrel, the Attonburn N Power-sired Attonburn Soldier, and the Milkieston Master son, Attonburn Sundance Kid - as well as 20 in-calf heifers, leaving only 50 or so females still to sell in the coming year.

In what will be a first for the Premier sale, the team at Attonburn, which includes Bob Rennie and son-in-law Chris Dixon, is offering 12 heifers to calve at two years of age having already exported 20 similarly aged heifers to Ireland, as well as eight three-year-olds, all by and served by a number of different bulls.

"If you want to invest in a Luing bull with a strong bloodline and favourable dam's classification behind him then you head to the Premier sale. Likewise, if you're looking for quality females to found, improve or expand your herd, it's the Castle Douglas sale that has the best on offer," said Mary.

"And, do you know, as time goes on and you see other breeds being dispersed, I don't think any other breed could have produced the capital for us over the years that the Luing has," Charles added.­