Day 5: Flatland Farms by Anais

Today our first stop was at Flatland Farms, a Scottish Highland farm. Mr. Mark and his wife have had this operation since 2007 where they raise and breed show and market Scottish Highlands and market rabbits. Spread out across 3 locations, they own 33 acres of land, 23 of which they use for grazing their cattle on a rotational grazing technique. This promotes and keeps grass tall and healthy giving them a longer supply of fresh grass as well as a way to prevent parasites spreading. This is extremely efficient for them as all of their cattle are 100% grass and hay fed.

They have 40 head of cattle used for showing at the state and county fairs as well as Highland specific shows in Texas, Wyoming, Oklahoma and more. A couple of their heifers have won best in breed at the county and state level in Iowa. Along with showing they keep a few of their bull calves and they become steers who are raised on the property as well. These steers are kept in a separate pen than the cows, calves, heifers and bulls. Throughout their time at the farm, they are fed up and finished on solely the hay and grass, which is pretty impressive for that to be done. Typically, they will take their steers to market in September when they hit the 2-year-old mark. Highland cows are one breed of cattle that mature and develop slower than others, therefor it takes them longer to gain the right amount of weight and be finished. Not only does that affect market time, but it pushes back the age they start to breed heifers at. With the slow maturity they have to begin the breeding at 2 or 3 instead of a little over 1, like most cattle. 

Along with all this incredible information we learned, Mr. Mark shared many fun facts about the breed with us. Some of those are,

- Highland beef is 90 to 95% lean

- They don't show their heats so using AI is very difficult when trying to be accurate 

- There are 7 different color types that Highlands can be

- Because of their coat you have to rinse just their brisket when trying to cool them off. Their coat traps heat under the water and makes them hotter than before.

- In order for Highland cattle to be able to be breed registered they have to still have their horns

Mr. Mark also raises Champagne d'Argent rabbits. These are dual purpose rabbits used for meat and show. There are 2 ARBA accepted colors, Champagne and Creme, however, Mr. Mark has a couple newer colors. The interesting thing about their colors is that they are born a solid color and by 6 - 8 months of age they have changed into their true color. 

These rabbits are used for show as well as for meat. It takes about 10 - 12 weeks to raise a market rabbit.