How the humble, but much-maligned cow is now saving Scotland's natural landscape

With nature restoration projects using cattle all over Scotland, is the dial shifting in terms of public perception of these maligned beasts when it comes to the environment?

‘Could 2025 be the year of the cow?’, said Ffinlo Costain, a leading commentator in the regenerative farming movement.

The TedX speaker, who has worked in farming, land and food business policy for over 20 years, posed the question ahead of speaking at the Sustainable Food Event later this month.

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“Cattle – when they’re well reared – are ecological powerhouses,” he tells The Scotsman.

Belted Galloways have been described as powerhouses when it comes to helping natureBelted Galloways have been described as powerhouses when it comes to helping nature
Belted Galloways have been described as powerhouses when it comes to helping nature | Helen Ryman

“In agroecological systems they can more than completely recycle the carbon they produce, while stimulating mass microbial activity, boosting biodiversity regeneration and ensuring high functioning air and water cycling in the soil.

"Could 2025 finally be the year that environmentalists, the media and policymakers start to look beyond cattle ’emissions’ and begin to value the power of the ruminant in regenerative food systems?”

Mr Costain said while there needs to be a concerted effort to “win back public support for the cow,” the narrative of the maligned humble herbivore being long been associated with emissions and methane is perhaps starting to shift.

In Scotland, there are signs of that happening already.

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Belted Galloways are a native breed in Scotland being used for nature restoration projectsBelted Galloways are a native breed in Scotland being used for nature restoration projects
Belted Galloways are a native breed in Scotland being used for nature restoration projects | Helen Ryman

More and more native breeds, including Belted Galloways and Highland cattle, are being used in nature restoration initiatives, whether they are being kept on estates or being reintroduced. These include estates managed by National Trust for Scotland, including Threave Estate, and RSPB Scotland.

Helen Ryman, a farmer at North Kildarroch in Dumfries and Galloway, spoke about the benefits her Belted Galloways bring to the surrounding nature.

“They are absolute powerhouses in helping biodiversity,” she said.

“On top of that, because they are low input and outside, they don’t need antibiotics and produce a healthy meat.

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“The Belties are like your Page 3 girl at the moment, they’re drawing headlines, people are looking at them because of how effective they are.”

Ms Ryman said the breed bring various environmental benefits, including bashing away bracken, an invasive weed that’s often damned for creating a desert for nature by smothering native plants. It also harbours ticks, which can spread nasty diseases, including Lyme disease.

Scotland-based research institution the James Hutton Institute is supporting farmers in using these cattle as a way of dealing with bracken control without the use of chemicals. The previously permitted herbicide Asulox was banned by the Scottish Government in 2023 without an established replacement control method.

Field lab researcher Robin Pakeman, of JHI, has previously said of the trial: “Using livestock means we can hopefully manage with more precision to achieve different impacts across a stand of bracken.

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“We’re monitoring the trial closely and hoping for a long-term boost for biodiversity.”

Ms Ryman said rotating the cattle as they graze outside is also beneficial for local bird populations.

“When they’re finished bashing back the bracken we move them on and it creates space for curlew," she said.

“What the cows do is make a mosaic out of the bracken and rushes which in turn helps the curlew because it gives them a line of sight to see if any predators are coming.”

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The farm is on a place called Whaup Hill, “whaup” being the scots term for curlew - a red listed species in the UK.

Cows are clearly proving their weight when it comes to nature, so much that rewilding charity Trees for Life (TfL) are experimenting with reintroducing cows to their rewilded lands.

Trees for Life said it will experiment introducing a small herd of tauros in 2026Trees for Life said it will experiment introducing a small herd of tauros in 2026
Trees for Life said it will experiment introducing a small herd of tauros in 2026 | Nino Salkic

In an announcement last year, the charity said it will experiment introducing a small herd of tauros. They are cattle that have been bred to be as similar as possible to the ancient aurochs – a mega-herbivore which for millennia played a vital role in shaping landscapes and boosting biodiversity across Europe, including Scotland.

Richard Bunting, of TfL, said: "A increasing number of conservationists and farmers are realising the important role that cattle can play.

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“Herbivores are an essential parts of the ecosystem, and they can open up niches that can be tremendous in increasing biodiversity.

“Cattle, in the right numbers, and especially when they live in a more wild way, can play an important role.

“What they are doing, to some extent, is filling the niche that was left in the ecosystem by the aurochs.”

A herd of up to 15 tauros from the Netherlands are due to be introduced to the charity’s 4,000-hectare Dundreggan estate near Loch Ness next year.

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The charity believes because of the sheer size of the animals - up to 180cm - they will be even more effective than current native breeds in Scotland when it comes to creating mosaics and trampling the ground for soil health.

Mr Bunting said reintroducing a large herbivore like the tauros will also bring a sense of awe and wonder to members of the public and help in education on the importance of ruminants for the environment.

Some farmers, however, would argue they have been farming with nature in mind for centuries and their benefit is no new phenomenon.

Recent controversy over Bovaer, a synthetic feed additive being trialled on farms across the UK to reduce methane in dairy cattle, also reignited conversations around methane and its role.

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While Bovaer was approved by the Food Standards Agency and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the announcement led to swathes of British shoppers threatening to boycott all three supermarkets and Arla brands out of a mistrust for the additive.

Several Scottish farms, including Scotland’s biggest dairy Graham’s Family Dairy, confirmed none of its farms would use the supplement, and said the focus should be breaking down what exactly is the role of methane.

Farmers at East Ayrshire Mossgiel Organic Farm said the answer to methane is not in supplements, but rather in nature.

“Regenerative, organic farming is our fix. Reducing methane isn’t just about what goes into the cow - it’s about what’s happening around her.”

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The sentiment is echoed by Mr Costain, who said “it’s about the how, not the cow.”

He added: “The climate crisis isn’t just about greenhouse gas emissions – climate change is driving and driven by biodiversity loss; climate change is driving and driven by desertification.

“In a regenerative farm system, producing high-functioning grassland, our cow helps the soil to sequester carbon, she restores land and ecological connectivity helping us to solve the climate crisis – while at the same time producing fantastic nutrient dense food, supporting livelihoods and feeding communities right the way around the world.”

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