Nestled in the steep hills of southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio is the home of Buckeye Highlands - owned, bred and raised by Max and Mary VanBuren. We are located about ten miles from the junction of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the panhandle of West Virginia. We are 35 miles due west of the Pittsburgh Airport. Our herd is composed entirely of Scottish Highlands and Scottish Highland crosses. This is appropriate in this area as many Scottish immigrants moved into this vicinity in the early 1800's. These folks liked it here because it reminded them of the steep terrain that they were used to surviving on in Scotland.

The Scottish Highland breed of cattle has changed very little since the 1600's. Living in the cold and damp mountainous areas of Scotland resulted in a natural selection process of genetics producing a very thrifty and hardy breed of cattle. This breed efficiently utilizes grass for forage. All of our cattle eat a 100% organic-certified grass diet, and every animal that is utilized for meat production has been born and raised on our farm. The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association is our certifying agency. Annual recertification and inspection are necessary to obtain our organic meat label. Our cattle live outdoors in perfect harmony with nature: this is reflected by their docility, great health, and longevity - our cows commonly produce calves until 16 years of age, which is much longer than most breeds of beef cattle. Our goals in working with the Scottish Highland breed are to produce healthy, tasty meat and to improve the grass finishing genetics within the breed.