Highland Wagyu has announced a groundbreaking partnership with internationally renowned Aberdeen Angus breeders W & D McLaren Ltd of Netherton Angus that will create a game-changing Angus super herd.

In the next five years, beef breeding company Highland Wagyu is set to invest millions into a new Angus super herd, aiming for 1000 head of cattle, in their quest to be at the top of the Angus beef industry and the pedigree-breeding world.

The innovative move includes the private purchase of the majority of the Netherton herd and to run it from both Netherton Farm and Blackford Farms under the guidance of W & D McLaren with William McLaren Jr taking charge of the day-to-day running of Highland Wagyu’s Angus herd, which runs under the Mohmar prefix.

William is the fourth generation of the McLaren Angus breeding family, which this year celebrates 90 years of dedicated Angus breeding. The breeders have sold Angus genetics to every continent in the last two years alone.

Mohsin Altajir who runs Highland Wagyu with his wife Martine Chapman, said: “We’ve always recognised the importance of the Aberdeen Angus breed and after long and careful deliberation, we thought the best way forward is to align ourselves with the best and we found that in W & D McLaren and Netherton Angus.

“We already have some of the best Angus foundation females in our 300-strong herd and, with the international know-how of William, the resources and scale of the Highland Wagyu operation, we can build up an elite herd with genetics to cater to the markets and revive the story of Scotland being home to the best beef in the world.

“The dream is to line both sides of the A9 with black cattle from Dunblane to Gleneagles and make Scotland a destination for any Angus buyer in the world.”

George McCulloch will continue to be herd manager for Highland Wagyu’s other breeds, which include 300 head of Fullblood Wagyu, 200 Shorthorns and a fold of Highlanders to convey the Scottish brand.

Mr McLaren Jr will retain a number of females and recipients, running the Netherton and Mohmar herds together.

William McLaren Jr of Netherton Farms said: “Our family has always embraced innovation, being the first to weigh cattle in 1958 and one of the first to sell an entire adult part of a herd and this is another first with Highland Wagyu. The partnership benefits the Angus breed and the industry to build scale and diversity to breed lines for higher marbling, easy calving and fleshing and to provide both the beef and pedigree breeding that the world needs. It’s breaking new ground to unite the expertise of Netherton and Highland Wagyu in order to produce the best beef in the country.”