08/25/2026
Lets talk about the miniature cattle market since there seems to be an alarmingly high level of misconception about the value in these cattle. I find it interesting that I get messages quite often, asking how much for our animals... and the moment we give them the transaction amount, its crickets. No, "thanks for your time" or "I cant afford that, but thank you" or "youre out of your mind"
None of that, its just crickets... because I genuinely believe people weren't expecting the high number that they got leaving them at a loss for words.
I even found myself in a situation after Frankie was born, where a vet that was helping us explicitly said "I dont know what the value of this calf is to you, but a plasma transfusion often costs more than the average cow itself if she needs it and it might be better to just let her go"
They didnt even know what was sitting in my bank account when they said that, they were just genuinely speaking about the cost of that procedure verses the average cost of a calf.
And that really was just the icing on the cake for me when it came to proving the lack of knowledge on where the market stands for highlands and miniature cattle... because anyone that did know what they value at, would have never compared their price tag to the average angus calf.
I thought it was pretty self explanatory that she would value significantly higher than an angus calf, so it was a no brainer for me to pay the price tag it was gonna cost to save her life... but I get so stuck in my own little world and forget, its NOT COMMON to raise these little guys. A hot commodity for those that do? Yes. Does everyone love them? Yes. Are they the cutest things youve ever seen in your life? Absolutely. But with that, again I often find myself forgetting that the average person isnt in tune with what it costs to get into them... you will spend your life's savings buying them.... and im not joking even the slightest. Especially, if youre picky and buy the good ones. You pay for what you get in the miniature cattle world. If youve paid on the lower end of the spectrum... you either got very uncommonly lucky, or youre not gonna be impressed with your stock as it ages... its only one way or the other.
Now lets get into this:
What is the average going rate?
Well... see heres the thing... there isnt one. Ive seen them go as low as $2000, and ive seen them go as high as $60,000 for a single calf.
Some breeders can cover single handedly hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single online auction of 20 calves and its not even surprising to the average farmer that raises them.
With that, comes WHERE the value and price point is decided on them.
When pricing our calves or stock, we look at conformation.
Good legs, good bone structure, good feet, level top line, stocky build, long head, blocky head...
Has it been halter broke, is it gentle, is it sweet, is it timid or pushy or downright mean? How much work has been put into the animal... its pedigree... etc! Theres so many little things that we all look at.
Then, you look at color. Different colors have different values. You'll pay less for a black or red than you will a silver or white.
Then you have your highland percentage, the higher that percentage goes up, the higher the price tag does too.
You can have a 50% highland cross, and that 50% will show in its lack of hair and it'll just look like a mutt. It takes 3 years give or take, before a calf is ready to breed and produce its own offspring... so it takes YEARS to breed generations of highlands back into miniature crosses.
You may not know, but MOST miniatures are not naturally small... they were crossed along the lines somewhere with a different true miniature breed such as Dexter for example. So breeding the hair back into the calves doesnt happen in a year or two without spending the extra dollar to start out with all high % miniature highland stock, when i say it takes years, youre looking at about 10+ years to breed high % calves if you start from the bottom and work your way up.
Now if you buy for example, a white, chondro positive cow high % highland, built structurally correct, gentle temperament, halter broke, with a pedigree to back phemoninal lineage... you add ALLLL THOSE GOOD TRAITS TOGETHER, you can expect to pay a hefty amount. But your future calves will pay for themselves in return 🤗
2 years ago, I got insanely lucky and purchased our famous bull, Retro...
I purchased him for $2700 on ACCIDENT in an online auction. He wasnt the calf that I was even going for. I was gonna sell him right after.
But today? My little accident has proven himself beyond measure and I wouldn't let him go for under $20,000 on the LOW end. You couldnt beat me into selling him for less than that after everything hes proven... and if youve seen him in person, you know why. He is truly stunning, gentle, TINY, built structurally correct, has all the hair, pictures have never and will never do him justice. When people have seen him in person, theyve always been mind blown about how much of a tank he is... because he just doesnt look it on a camera. He didnt build that value himself though, it took years of pouring into him to get him to that value. You can't just take every bull you see and turn them into a once in a lifetime bull. We just got lucky on that one. Insanely lucky actually. Im still in disbelief sometimes.
That brings me to another point... if youre new to this... dear God dont buy an animal without seeing it in person 🙄 you will find yourself at some point scratching your head and wondering what you just got yourself into when that trailer shows up with the worst looking animal you've ever seen.
If your eye isnt trained to pick apart every single animal in a picture yet... go pick your animals up that you purchase yourself at first. Learning what to look for takes time.
Next up- whats the lineage? Can its lineage be traced back? Any big names in its history? Any top breeders in its lineage? How tall are parents and grandparents?
The shorter the genetic history in height, the smaller your animal is likely to be at maturity...
You're gonna pay significantly higher for a true miniature animal that has lineage to back it, than you will for a midsize or full size.
I myself have paid upwards of $15,000 to get a miniature cow home to us... and that's on the low side of things.
Then you add in Chondro status... is there chondro in the genepool? Is the animal pos or neg for it? You'll pay higher if its positive almost all the time.
That beings said though.... you can still find PHENOMINALLY small non chondro miniatures... look at all of our bulls for example.
We run Chondro positive cows, and chondro negative bulls. Our bulls are just as small as our chondro girls.
The price you pay will almost ALWAYS reflect the level of awsome you are buying when it comes to these guys.
Theres many newer breeders that will take a dookie of a chondro bull, put it over any cow they can find and try and price it at an experienced breeders price because its got a chondro positive test result. You cant just go all w***y nilly buying anything you see cause it sounds like a good deal. Do your research first, or you may find yourself 5 years down the road looking in your pasture and wondering why you cant even get your calves to sell for bottom dollar... and its cause youve got s**t genetics 🤷🏼♀️ pardon my French.
Theres SO MUCH you can learn by asking questions, following bigger breeders, keeping an open mind to criticism... etc!
I can tell you right now, ive got 3 people I message before I purchase anything and ill send them all info ive gathered on an animal, pictures, videos, etc... and ill straight up ask them if its a crap animal and what they think before I make any decisions. Im not even a newbie and I still beg those girls to criticize me before making a decision. Now im pretty picky on my animals, so ive only ever been told ehhhh stay away, a handful of times from those ladies... but when they tell me to stay away, I STAY AWAY. Because they see something that I clearly didnt and I dont even question it. Find yourself a mentor before buying things, ask questions, learn from them, pay attention to other companies, watch auctions, get in touch with the market, talk to other breeders...
Dont just go on a whim and buy your first "mini cow" because the tag reflects the dollar amount thats in your bank account.
Make sure its WORTHY of whats in your bank account... because youll pay an amount that could buy you a nice car, for the good ones that will make you something some day... very rarely will you get lucky with a cheap on a whim purchase.
And the next time you see a miniature highland or highland cross for sale... if curiosity kills the cat and youve gotta ask the price... now you know to expect nothing less than what weve discussed today, and thats how it SHOULD BE.
Its not a cheap quick buck industry.
Many people dont understand the time, money, the heartbreak, the blood sweat and tears that goes into owning these.
It takes years to breed something good, it takes tens of thousands to own something decent and make yourself a nice herd, and when you see someone cash a big bag off an animal... dont assume that theyre living lavish... because I can promise you that money gets invested right back in to their company to buy even more superior genetics to keep advancing their program. That moneh is here today, gone tomorrow. Were all ALWAYS looking to improve and theres ALWAYS room for improvement, and the further you work your way up, the more youll find yourself spending to buy into the genetics that will improve your already decent lines.
Its an addicting lifestyle, and its definitely one not many of us would trade for the world. You couldnt pay me a million dollars to sell everything ive got standing in my field right now because ive sat here for YEARS waiting for the right ones to come around to invest into... and when calving season comes around next year, our prices will reflect that too. 😉
