West Coast Calves – Key Facts and Figures
27 January 2026Calves born and bred on the West Coast of Scotland play a hugely important role in contributing to maintaining Scotland’s critical herd mass. Suckler herds on the Western Isles contribute significantly to biodiversity, where extensive cattle grazing systems provide habits for some of the UK’s rarest species including Pipistrelle bats, dung beetles, Great Yellow Bumblebee and several birds including various waders. Beef production for example on the Isle of Skye provides the ideal habitat for Corncrakes.
As well as benefiting the environment, these weaned calves produced on the west coast from hardy,often out-wintered native bred dams are vital for the supply chain. These resilient calves are sought after by finishers for low health incidences and their ability to thrive with hundreds being sold annually into finishing systems across the UK. The 2025 Portree sale of weaned calves grossed over £1.7million with the market and its sales being important to the rural community.
Heifers calving and calf registrations
Since 2015 suckler herd numbers in Scotland have been dropping on average by 1% each year. From 2015 to 2024 suckler herd numbers have dropped by 11.7% (51,000 cows). While beef-renowned areas such as Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Dumfries, Nairnshire and Perthshire have recorded sharp declines in suckler numbers, numbers on the West Coast have remained more stable. The following graphs represent calf registrations and the number of heifers calving across years 2015 to 2024 for the parishes of Lewis and Harris, Skye and Uists and Barras.
Lewis and Harris
| Year | Calf Registrations | Heifers Calving | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 505 | 88 | |
| 2016 | 477 | 72 | |
| 2017 | 435 | 94 | |
| 2018 | 377 | 74 | |
| 2019 | 402 | 66 | |
| 2020 | 383 | 65 | |
| 2021 | 431 | 85 | |
| 2022 | 462 | 105 | |
| 2023 | 447 | 96 | |
| 2024 | 388 | 55 |
Skye
| Year | Calf Registrations | Heifers Calving | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2509 | 347 | |
| 2016 | 2490 | 341 | |
| 2017 | 2488 | 358 | |
| 2018 | 2364 | 339 | |
| 2019 | 2403 | 384 | |
| 2020 | 2550 | 349 | |
| 2021 | 2512 | 358 | |
| 2022 | 2430 | 331 | |
| 2023 | 2326 | 408 | |
| 2024 | 2280 | 380 |
Uists and Barra
| Year | Calf Registrations | Heifers Calving | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2509 | 347 | |
| 2016 | 2490 | 341 | |
| 2017 | 2488 | 358 | |
| 2018 | 2364 | 339 | |
| 2019 | 2403 | 384 | |
| 2020 | 2550 | 349 | |
| 2021 | 2512 | 358 | |
| 2022 | 2430 | 331 | |
| 2023 | 2326 | 408 | |
| 2024 | 2280 | 380 |
The number of heifers calving in 2024 compared with 2015 in the Uists and Barras had increased with Skye recording an increase of 8.5% for heifers calving.
Where heifers first calved in 2024
Data also indicates that heifer calves born on Scotland’s West Coast regions end up calving down in regions outwith where they were born. Table 1 below represents where heifers first calved in 2024 in relation to their birth region. Therefore, as well as providing calves for finishing systems, calves produced on the West Coast, are being used as replacements for other herds.
94% of heifers in this data set were Skye bred.
Marketing west coast calves
Calves tend to be sold between 6 – 9 months of age in what is an efficient use of resources, with many farmers and crofters in these areas not able to over-winter cows and followers. Most herds sell whole batches of calves on one sale day, which is a positive for finishers with the ability to go to these west coast sales and buy large batches of calves off one farm. These calves tend to have been reared naturally, with less reliance on creep feeding., with sale weights approximately 240 – 350 kgs.
The following is an example of how a batch of 160 heifers performed on a finishing unit. The heifers were all bought from the Portree and Lochmaddy weaned calf sales.
| Portree Calves 21/09/2022 | Lochmaddy Calves 24/10/2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average purchase weight (kgs) | 315 | Average purchase weight (kgs) | 266 | |
| Average purchase price (£/head) | 743 | Average purchase price (£/head) | 709 | |
| Finished weight (kgs) | 690 | Finished weight (kgs) | 676 | |
| Finished price (£/head) | 1868 | Finished price (£/head) | 1828 | |
| Average Grade | R4L | Average Grade | U4L |
Heifers were finished on a semi-intensive system and finished at approximately 20 -22 months of age.
Sales of west coast bred calves will get underway in 2026, from mid-September. For anyone interested in attending these sales as a potential purchaser then get in touch with Dingwall & Highland Auction Mart or United Auctions who hold sales of west coast calves throughout the autumn for further discussions.
Sarah Balfour, SAC Consulting
Sign up to the FAS newsletter
Receive updates on news, events and publications from Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service