37th National Highland Sale Tops $1 Million

Howdy, everyone!

The 37th Annual National Highland Cattle Sale just wrapped up at the National Western Stock Show, and for the first time in the sale's history, total revenue crossed the million-dollar mark.

I spent some time going through the complete results, and there's a lot to dig into.

The Numbers

The sale moved $1,048,316 across 91 lots. Here's how it broke down:

• Open Heifers: 37 sold for $598,566 (median: $15,000)

• Bred Heifers: 8 sold for $221,000 (median: $23,500)

• Bulls: 2 sold for $71,000

• Embryos: 13 lots totaling $58,250

• Semen: 27 lots totaling $44,250

• Other (Choice of Heifer Calves, Confirmed Pregnancy, Flush, Steer): 4 lots totaling $55,250

All told, 50 live animals brought $935,816, with the genetics adding another $112,500.

One thing that jumped out to me: the median bred heifer brought $23,500 compared to $15,000 for open heifers. That's a 57% premium. Buyers are clearly willing to pay to skip the uncertainty and get a calf on the ground sooner.

The Top Seller: TC Murdach at $50,000

If you follow the show circuit, you probably already know this name. TC Murdach came into the sale as the 2026 NWSS Reserve National Champion Bull, consigned by Cross Cattle Company.

The price makes sense when you consider what buyers were really paying for. TC Murdach is a 12-time breed champion with a state fair supreme title, and his pedigree goes back to Sunset Rebel Yell and Ledyard's Cardhu. At just over two years old, he's already the kind of sire that shows up in conversations about where the breed is headed.

$50,000 is a lot of money. But you're not just buying genetics—you're buying instant credibility for your program. Every calf out of that bull comes with a story attached.

The Other Top Sellers

Silva's Pepper Jack — $45,000 (Bred Heifer, Black)

Top-selling female of the sale. She's bred to Murchadh Dubh of Mottistone, who won overall male champion at the 2022 Oban sale in Scotland and sold for 15,000 guineas (~$21,250 at the time) to a buyer in Minnesota. Silva's Highlands has been at this for a while, and I think that program reputation is part of what buyers are paying for here.

CSF Mendota — $40,000 (Bred Heifer, Red)

From Climbing Stump Farm, bred to CBS Jameson. The catalog noted she's nt821 negative, which I'll get to in a minute.

Climbing Stump had a strong day overall: just two lots, but they averaged $31,000, the highest per-head average among consignors with multiple entries. That kind of consistency says something about the program.

Skye High Nirvana Lass — $38,000 (Open Heifer, Brindle)

Grand Champion Highland Female at the 2025 Michigan UP State Fair. Skyler Anderson at Skye High Farms has been breeding national champions for years. His three lots averaged $22,000, a track record that matters when buyers are writing checks at this level.

STR Delaney — $32,000 (Open Heifer, Black)

This one interested me the most. The catalog listed her as the first Seamus of Benmore daughter in the US.

If that name doesn't ring a bell: Seamus of Benmore was the senior champion and overall male at the 2023 Oban sale. He sold for 22,000 guineas (~$28,000 at the time) to Star Lake Cattle Company, who imported his semen. First calves hit the ground last year.

So what buyers were really paying for here is early access: a chance to get genetics from a sire that Scottish breeders have been excited about, before everyone else has daughters to sell.

What the Genetics Lots Tell Us

I don't want to skip over the semen and embryo sales, because they show you where buyers think the breed is heading.

The semen lots ranged from about $75/straw at the low end to $800/straw at the top. That's a huge spread for what is, physically, the same thing: five straws in a tank. The difference is entirely about which bulls buyers believe will produce the next generation of winners.

Same story with embryos. Per-embryo prices ranged from $400 to $2,250 depending on the pairing. Buyers aren't treating embryos as a commodity. They're betting on specific crosses.

A Note on Colors

I looked at the color breakdown, and black animals did sell above the overall median ($24,066 vs $16,500 for all live animals). Red was the most common color with 14 head, coming in right around median at $17,000.

There were only two brindle animals in the sale, and both sold well. I don’t know that we can read too much into that with such a small sample.

Color was clearly working like a multiplier: it can help when an animal already has the fundamentals (pedigree, show record, program reputation). But color alone didn't push average cattle into elite prices. Interestingly, the silvers and whites that have been so popular over the last couple of years didn’t rise to the top here.

NT821 Testing

Several catalog entries this year mentioned "nt821 negative" or "nt821 negative by pedigree." If you haven't been following this, it's probably worth knowing about.

NT821 is a myostatin gene variant that was first found in Highland cattle in Germany back in late 2023. Since then it's turned up in herds across Australia, the US, and elsewhere. One copy doesn't really show up visually, but two copies can mean higher birth weights and calving problems.

The tricky part is that carriers often look better than non-carriers. They tend to grow faster with more muscling. So without testing, you might end up selecting them as your best replacements without realizing it.

The fact that consignors are calling out nt821 status in their catalog descriptions tells me the market is paying attention. I'd expect this to become standard disclosure before long.

What I'm Taking Away

This sale crossed $1 million for the first time. That's a milestone.

But what I found more interesting is what the results reveal about what buyers actually trust right now:

• Proven sires with name recognition (TC Murdach's $50K)

• UK genetics with show credentials (Seamus of Benmore, Murchadh Dubh of Mottistone)

• Program reputation (Silva's, Skye High, Climbing Stump)

• Reduced uncertainty (the bred heifer premium, nt821 disclosure)

Buyers are paying for transparency and track record. That's a good sign for the breed.

I'm Curious

For those who weren't at the National Western this year: are you actively looking at UK genetics, or mostly sticking with domestic lines? I'd love to hear what's driving your breeding decisions.

And if anyone saw TC Murdach in the ring, what did you think of him?

Until next time,

Elliott

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