Farming
Farming across Logie Estate is mainly livestock orientated with some barley production; upland Moray has an envied reputation for producing fine beef cattle which often win prizes at major fatstock shows. Our own, in-hand, herd of Longhorn cattle graze the fields around the Steading while just over a third of the land at Logie is farmed by individual families to whom the estate rents the land and buildings.
Logie Longhorn Herd History
Managed by Panny and Alasdair Laing, the herd of Logie Longhorns was founded in 1982 with the purchase of three in-calf cows and a bull. One of the cows was called Bemborough Orchid – she was Joe Henson’s first Longhorn Heifer calf. Joe being Adam, of TV fame’s father! The Longhorn bull was used on the commercial beef herd to produce replacement heifers with the breed attributes of ease of calving, good temperament and longevity. When the main herd was sold, the Longhorns were retained, and the herd has gradually increased to its present size.
Over the years there have been successes in the show ring and in the Longhorn herd competition for the Northern area (covering herds from Cheshire to Orkney!). Great Taste awards have also ben won for the meat.
Continued...
Longhorns are well suited to ‘extensive’ – the opposite to ‘intensive’ – farming methods, thriving outside all year round with extra feed as and when necessary. The cattle are naturally reared, producing beef with a traditional quality and flavour rarely found nowadays. Longhorn cattle, the breed that originally made British beef famous, are one of the oldest traditional breeds. One of the most popular breeds of cattle in the time of the eighteenth-century agriculturalist Robert Bakewell, Longhorn numbers had dwindled to very low numbers by the middle of the twentieth century.
A few herds were maintained by enthusiasts and, since the late 1970s when the breed was on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s watchlist, the breed’s ever-increasing popularity has safeguarded its future. Across the UK – and in Europe and Australia – there are now growing numbers of commercial herds of Longhorns, and also farmers using Longhorn Bulls to produce LHX heifers for breeding and bullocks for the fatstock market.
We usually have some females for sale
Please email Panny Laing if you are interested.
The Logie herd is an accredited member of the SAC Health Scheme (BVD and Johne’s)
The Meat
It is a well-established fact that intramuscular fat or “marbling” within meat is largely responsible for succulence, tenderness and flavour – the hallmark of beef with superior eating quality. Unlike many breeds, a properly finished Longhorn carcase will benefit from marbling without excess external fat cover. To achieve the best flavour, tenderness and succulence our Longhorn carcasses are hung for at least 3 weeks.
The meat is often featured on the menu at the Café at Logie Steading and available for sale from the Farm and Garden Shop
