JCA Highlands was started in 2015 when Jacob and Christi Abel purchased their first highland cattle. We started off with what I call the three red heads, Annie, Moo and Belle. Along with those three girls, we also got a steer.
A year later we had the opportunity to purchase LSR Starlight (Starry) and, her calf, WCM Wendy. Starry was also pregnant with a calf that she would deliver on September 30, 2016 that we would name JCA Starbright (Fionna). Fiona would be the first Highland born on our farm.
We next needed to decide if we wanted to have a bull or use AI. We spent many hours, weeks and months looking for the perfect bull. While looking through the Heartland Highland Cattle Association website classified ads, we saw an ad for a young bull. We called up the owners, who we had met when we attended the annual meeting for the HHCA the year before. After talking to them and looking at his pedigree, we decided that this was the bull that we wanted to be our herd sire. H-L Duke (Duke) has proved his value to us in many ways. Not only is he an incredibly docile bull, but also he passes that docility on to his calves. He also has given us 77% heifers! Duke has produced excellent calves with all of our girls.
Jacob grew up on a farm until he was 15 years old. This would be extremely helpful as he was able to fence our property and the leased property to the south of us. He has proven that his fences are very strong and extremely well built! We have continued to add more fencing and still have one more fencing project to build and that is the corral system to our squeeze chute. Jacob can build anything and has built several sheds and is working on getting our barn put up. Jacob was also involved in 4-H till he was 15 and would enter market pigs and bucket calves among other projects.
Christi spent her summers helping her grandparents on the family farm. Christi also grew up in 4-H and was heavily involved in the dog project. This would later lead her to showing in AKC dog shows and breeding Labrador Retrievers. She also showed other breeds for other people as well. Christi handles the business part and social media of JCA Highlands.
Jacob and Christi take pride in the quality of calves they produce. We have worked hard on getting Highlands with the best pedigrees and conformation we could find. Our goal is to have calves that are biddable, calm, adhere to the breed standard, and are beautiful to look at.
