Shat Acres Highland Farm: The Vermont Cow That Started a Family Legacy

The cow that started one of America's oldest Highland cattle stories had another name.

Around the farm, she was known simply as Scottie.

But the brands hidden beneath that long Highland coat eventually revealed something remarkable.

Scottie was actually XX El Donn's Lassie, a registered Highland cow born in South Dakota in 1956. Her pedigree reached back to the early days of registered Highland cattle in the United States.

And when Carroll Shatney added her to his Vermont farm in the 1960s, he couldn't have known that generations later his family would be connected to what is recognized as the oldest registered Highland fold in the United States.

This story didn't begin in Plainfield.

But that's where an important part of it is being written today.

Before the Highlands, There Was Shat Acres

The Shatney family's farming story reaches back to 1915, when Arthur and Winona Shatney purchased a farm near Long Pond in North Greensboro.

The name was simple enough.

Shatney.

Acres.

Shat Acres.

It was a diversified Vermont farm, with the assortment of animals you'd expect to find on many farms of the era.

Arthur's son Carroll eventually took over the operation.

Then came Scottie.

🐂 A Cow With a Hidden Identity

Scottie wasn't born in Vermont.

She was born in South Dakota on April 29, 1956, and her registered name was XX El Donn's Lassie.

But that identity wasn't immediately obvious.

According to the Shatney family's history, markings branded on Scottie eventually allowed her pedigree to be traced. The American Scotch Highland Breeders' Association provided Carroll with duplicate registration papers.

That discovery connected his cow to the early history of registered Highland cattle in America.

There's a small discrepancy in the historical record about exactly when the Shat Acres fold began.

The Midwest Highland Cattle Association traces the registered fold to 1966, while a Vermont Agency of Agriculture profile says Carroll purchased Scottie in 1967.

What isn't really in dispute is the larger point:

The Shatney family's Highland story has continued for nearly six decades, and industry and state agricultural sources have recognized Shat Acres as the oldest registered Highland fold in the country.

Then the Next Generation Took Over

Carroll's son Ray Shatney grew up around the cattle.

Eventually Ray's life crossed paths with Janet Steward, who had a farm in Plainfield.

That connection brought together two Vermont places about 35 miles apart:

Greensboro and Plainfield.

And when Ray and Janet eventually created a beef business, they combined those two names.

GREENsboro.

PlainFIELD.

Greenfield Highland Beef.

I love that detail.

The business name itself is a little map of the family's story.

They Thought They Might Sell Two or Three Animals

In 2007, Ray and Janet decided to see whether people would buy locally raised, grass-fed beef from their cattle.

Their expectations weren't enormous.

They thought they might process two or three animals a year.

Then people tasted the beef.

One of their early opportunities came at the Montpelier Farmers Market. According to Janet's account, they initially had difficulty getting into the market because organizers already had beef vendors.

Eventually they were given a spot.

Ray cooked samples.

People tried them.

And the business began finding customers.

Sometimes a business plan is a spreadsheet.

Sometimes it's a skillet and a sample of beef at a Vermont farmers market.

Success Created a Different Problem

Demand grew.

But Ray and Janet were trying to accomplish two things at once.

They wanted to sell beef.

They also wanted to protect the genetics of their registered Highland fold.

Those aren't necessarily the same job.

As the beef operation expanded, the farm eventually incorporated Shorthorn genetics into the beef-production side while maintaining its registered Highland cattle separately for breeding and replacement stock.

At its peak, the operation was processing roughly 35 to 40 animals annually, and the overall fold grew to around 170 animals.

That's a long way from the original idea of two or three.

But Protecting the Highlands Remained Important

This is where Shat Acres becomes more than a local-beef story.

The farm has worked for decades to preserve its Highland genetics.

Shat Acres describes itself not only as the country's oldest registered Highland fold, but also as its oldest closed Highland fold.

A closed fold means outside Highland females haven't continually been brought into the breeding population.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture independently reported that distinction in its profile of the operation, noting at the time that no breeding female had been purchased in more than 40 years.

That makes these animals part of a living agricultural history.

The Farm Story Moved Toward Plainfield

For years, Ray and Janet operated between the Greensboro and Plainfield farms.

More recently, they've been consolidating much of the cattle operation in Plainfield.

And the scale has changed.

Shat Acres currently says its fold numbers around 50 animals, considerably smaller than the operation at its peak.

But smaller doesn't mean the story has stopped.

Instead, the farm has added another way for people to experience it.

🏡 You Can Stay With the Highlands

The Plainfield property is now home to the Highland House Farm Stay.

Guests aren't simply sleeping near a Vermont farm.

The experience is designed to introduce visitors to the cattle and agricultural practices behind the operation.

That's an interesting evolution.

Scottie was once unusual enough that Highland cattle could be taken to local fairs simply because people wanted to see them.

Nearly 60 years later, people are traveling to Plainfield specifically to spend time around their descendants.

During Vermont Open Farm Week in August 2026, Shat Acres invited the public onto the Plainfield farm to meet and comb Highlands, learn about the operation and picnic near the pasture.

The farm reported that more than 60 people attended, including visitors from as far away as Alaska.

The cattle are still drawing a crowd.

Just differently.

⭐ Nathan's Hidden Gem: Learn Their Names

Here's what I'd do if you have an opportunity to visit Shat Acres.

Don't just take the Highland photograph.

Ask about the animals.

Ask about the bloodlines.

Ask about Scottie.

Because once you know the history, you're no longer looking at a shaggy Vermont cow with impressive horns.

You're looking at the continuation of breeding decisions made by a Vermont farm family over generations.

That's a much better photograph to take home in your head.

And because this is a working farm rather than a roadside attraction, contact Shat Acres before visiting rather than simply arriving at the property.

Shat Acres Highland Farm / Greenfield Highland Beef

What Shat Acres Says About Plainfield

Our first Plainfield story took us up Spruce Mountain and into the village.

This one takes us down a dirt road to a pasture.

And it adds something important to the picture.

Vermont's landscape doesn't exist independently of the people working it.

Farms change.

Families change.

Markets change.

Sometimes a farm grows to 170 animals.

Sometimes the next chapter means becoming smaller.

Sometimes preserving something old requires finding an entirely new way to make it work.

The Shat Acres story began in Greensboro more than a century ago.

The Highland chapter began with one cow whose real identity was discovered beneath her shaggy coat.

And today, much of that story continues in a pasture in Plainfield.

Nearly six decades after Scottie arrived, that's quite a family legacy.