Nov. 24, 2011 - Glenn Young of Young Sprout Farms in Tyler calls himself an "old hippie," and it is hard to argue when his looks are reminiscent of one Willie Nelson.
When Young first decided to buy cows, it was because it was the easiest way for him to obtain a tax exemption in Smith County. When he started his search for a breed, he first considered Herefords, which he had always been drawn to, he also looked at Angus, Brangus and Brafords.
"I was leaning a bit towards Brafords and I found in a listing that somebody had as the 'hippie cow.' I was like 'I'm an old hippie and I need to see what these hippie cows are,'" he laughed.
Young took one look at the Scottish Highlander cattle the owner had described as "hippie cows" and fell in love. But, he had his concerns with the long hair coats the cattle carry --worried the Texas heat could pose a problem.
"So, when I saw them, I was like 'these are the most beautiful things I've ever seen,'" he said. "But I thought 'you know, okay, this is going to be a lot of special care.' I started reading about it, and I found out that they were basically the base of a lot of our breeds that we have today -- Herefords and Angus and stuff like that. They have had them in Scotland back since before Christ."
Young did a lot of research on the breed and found they were actually very adaptive to environments. His biggest piece of advice to anyone looking to own this breed is to make sure there are wooded areas for the cattle to escape to, as they seem to prefer that to a barn or shed-type structure.
"One thing about this breed of cattle is even when it is a nice, cool day, they still want to stand in the shade, they stay in the trees a lot," he said.
He decided they would be perfect on his Smith County property, as he had a lot of trees, hilly terrain and plenty of space for them to roam. So, he decided to purchase four heifers to begin his herd, then the search was on for a bull. He knew he wanted something spectacular and that he wanted to raise pure Scottish Highlanders and to make sure they would be top-quality animals.
"Even in the registered stock, you have what you might call 'common cattle,'" he explained. "After I bought my four heifers, I started looking for a bull and I started looking at all the ranches, and I kept spreading and spreading and spreading and I could only go back three generations. Almost everybody's farm in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana -- they all seemed to be related. I found the same three bulls in all of these different people's stock."
Young decided it was time for some new blood to be introduced into the area, and decided to expand his search even further, even if it meant traveling across the country.
"I said 'you know what? I need to bring some new blood in,'" Young recalled. "I found a lady and her husband up in Kentucky that had, just that year, brought in a new white bull from Virginia and their first calf out of him was a white bull. I bought him when he was 3 months old, just from looking at the pictures."
So, even though Young hadn't seen the bull in person, he knew his gamble would pay off, and he and his wife set out to Kentucky to pick up their future herd sire -- after they made some trailer modifications.
"We drove all the way up there, it was the end of June," he said. "I was so worried about the 100-degree days and stuff and traveling and keeping him in that trailer, I got some insulation board and we insulated the top of the trailer and we sort of made it to where after we picked him up, we kept traveling home where we were traveling mostly at night.
"We got here with him and he still had his winter coat on at the end of June, and well he was hot," Young continued. "So I put out a water hose with an impulse sprayer on it and he would stand out there during the day and he would just stay in front of that water hose."
The young bull paid little attention to the girls and focused his efforts on staying in front of the water, moving around in a circle with the impulse sprayer throughout the day to keep cool, and get a massage, as Young said he would only stand about two feet from the sprayer, allowing the water to hit him with a fair amount of pressure.
"Eventually, his heavy hair came off and he lost it, and he hasn't had any problems at all," Young said. "I sort of learned right then if you are going to buy anything from up north and bring it down here, do it in the fall."
Aside from insuring that he makes the proper travel considerations for these cattle, Young was fairly surprised at how little special care they require. Shortly after purchasing his cattle, he became a member of the Heartland Highlander Cattle Association, as well as Highland Cattle USA and found that breeders are actually encouraged not to coddle these cows.
"Cattle now, they grow really fast, they are heavy in fat and they are not that healthy -- you got to keep them on drugs to keep them living," Young said of other common breeds. "Well, these animals, at least the association has pushed to not coddle these animals. You know, don't coddle them like some beautiful creature. These cows will survive in some pastures that other breeds would die in."
For example, when Young first brought his Highlanders to his pastures, there was poison ivy, thorns and thick brush as much as two foot deep in the woods and surrounding the creek beds. The cattle utilized the forage that many breeds wouldn't touch, and four years later, these areas are easy to travel through, with little underbrush.
Young is quick to admit he is a "newbie" at cattle, but has had more than 20 years experience with horses, so he knows the basic needs of his stock. Regardless he hopes to breed top-notch Scottish Highlander cattle and sell them for both beef and breeding purposes. He has even gotten calls from people interested in purchasing his cattle for show projects.
To find out more about Young Sprout Farms visit them at www.youngsproutfarms.com
