December Highland Auctions: Five Sales, Very Different Results

Hi and merry Christmas!

I figured a Saturday night watching college football was as good as any time for analyzing this last batch of auctions.

December gave us five Highland-focused online auctions within a single week. Same buyer pool (mostly), very different outcomes. If you're trying to figure out how to price your animals or where to consign, this month's results offer some clear lessons.

Let's walk through them.

Cyrus Ridge Farm — Mini Scottish Highland Calves

December 9, 2025 | Waynesboro, VA | 9 head

This was a tight, focused offering from a single farm with a loyal following. No filler, no reserves, no drama.

The numbers:

• Gross: $61,950

• Average: $6,883

• Median: $7,000

• Heifers (5): averaged $8,980, topped at $10,500

• Bulls (4): averaged $4,263, topped at $4,700

What's interesting here: The lone chondro-positive heifer in the sale, Felicity, brought $7,000. That's actually less than the four non-chondro heifers, which ranged from $7,800 to $10,500.

This isn’t necessarily a knock on chondro genetics. In most of these auctions, we see chondro-positive animals bringing higher prices. But it’s true that many more established breeders avoid chondro-positive cows due to the potential for more difficulties in calving. So this listing is a reminder that chondro status alone isn't a price multiplier. Buyers are weighing the whole package: color, conformation, temperament, and seller reputation. The non-chondro heifers were well-described, well-photographed, and came from a farm with strong buyer trust.

Takeaway: A small, honest catalog with realistic expectations still clears. Bulls settled into the low-$4k range, exactly where the market says they should.

Pandarosa Ranch — Merry Little Christmas

December 14, 2025 | Dawson, IL | 24 head

Pandarosa knows how to run an auction. Strong branding, bottle-raised calves, clear descriptions, and a social media presence that keeps buyers engaged year-round.

The numbers:

• Gross: $252,152

• Average: $10,506

• Median: $8,375

• Heifers (11): averaged $16,150, topped at $24,500

• Steers (9): averaged $5,275

• Steer/bull options (4): averaged $6,756

What's interesting here: Four of the top five prices were chondro-positive heifers. Zima led at $24,500, followed by Kari ($23,000), Mira ($18,500, chondro-negative), Aurora ($17,500), and Krystal ($16,500). When you combine micro size, chondro status, appealing color (silver, white, blue roan), and Pandarosa's bottle-baby reputation, buyers are willing to pay. But Mira's strong showing proves that a quality HighPark heifer with the right look can compete without chondrodysplasia.

Steers behaved exactly as expected from a popular breeder like Pandarosa, clustered in the $4k–$5k range with a few outliers when novelty or bull-option pricing came into play.

Takeaway: Platform matters. Audience matters. Pandarosa has spent years building both, and it shows in their clearance rates and price ceilings.

Mariposa Minis & Exotics — Winter Online Auction

December 14, 2025 | Boerne, TX

This auction ran on a new custom app through ExoticAuction.com, so we don't have detailed lot-by-lot results to report. From what saw as the auction was ending, most calves seemed to sell in the $3,000–$10,000 range.

What's interesting here: Mariposa operates within the broader Texas/Oklahoma exotic livestock world. Think axis deer, all sorts of African antelope, and other novelty genetics. That's a different buyer pool than the typical Highland auction circuit. These buyers may be less tuned into Highland-specific genetics (chondro status, registration politics) and more focused on visual appeal and agritourism fit.

Takeaway: There may be untapped demand for mini highlands among exotic livestock buyers who aren't plugged into the usual Highland social media channels. Worth watching as this platform develops.

Willoughby Livestock — Moo-ey & Bright

December 14–15, 2025 | Multi-state consignors | 27 head offered

This is the sale that should make every breeder pause and think about reserves.

The numbers:

• Offered: 27 head

• Sold: 11 head

• Reserve not met / no sale: 16 head

• Gross (sold animals): $54,250

• Average (sold): $4,932

• Median (sold): $4,000

Less than half the catalog cleared. A 41% clearance rate.

What happened? Two factors, and they compound each other.

First, reserves were probably set too high for a December market. Bred cows, bulls, and cow-calf pairs sat while buyers scrolled past. Even chondro-positive animals failed to move when they weren't paired with micro size and pet appeal. Lot 1 (Opal), a micro chondro-positive heifer out of a Viral MarshMello daughter, had a $10,000 bid that didn't meet reserve. A polled micro bull prospect (Milo) got zero traction.

Second, the consignors in this sale don't have the social media reach of a Pandarosa or Cyrus Ridge. That's not a criticism. It's just reality. When you're selling through a third-party platform without a built-in audience, your animals are competing on the listing alone. Buyers have to discover you, trust you, and decide to bid, all without the relationship-building that happens on Instagram or Facebook over months and years.

The animals that did sell were priced in the $2,500–$8,750 range and matched buyer expectations for a December online sale.

Takeaway: If you don't have a following, you can't price like you do. Reserves protect you from a bad sale, but they can also guarantee no sale at all.

Webb Cattle Co. — The Highland Heist

December 7, 2025 | 25 head offered

• Sold: 24 head (1 reserve not met)

• Gross: $338,750

• Average: $14,115

• Median: $9,375

The top end was driven by two outliers: a riggit-patterned micro heifer (Bail Money) at $61,000 and a silver micro heifer (Lil Jenny) at $46,000. Both chondro-positive. Remove those two and the remaining 22 head averaged around $10,500, which is much closer to Pandarosa's results.

Five Auctions, One Week, One Buyer Pool

It's worth stepping back and noting what happened here: five Highland-focused auctions in a single week, with three of them landing on December 14th. The market was asked to absorb 85+ animals in seven days.

The earlier sales cleared first and cleared well. Webb moved 24 of 25 on December 7th. Cyrus Ridge went 9 for 9 on December 9th. By the time December 14th rolled around, some portion of potential buyers had already made their December purchases.

Then came the pile-up. Pandarosa, Mariposa, and Willoughby all running simultaneously. Pandarosa cleared 100%. Willoughby cleared 41%. Same day, same general buyer pool, completely different results.

When buyers have to choose where to spend limited time and money on the same evening, they go with the seller they already trust. Pandarosa has spent years building that relationship. Most of the Willoughby consignors haven't. On a quieter weekend, Willoughby might have captured some casual browsers who stumbled across the listings. On a day when Pandarosa was also running? Those browsers went to Pandarosa instead.

If you're planning a sale, pay attention to the calendar. Competing head-to-head with an established brand on the same day is a losing position, especially if you're still building your audience.

What December Taught Us

On chondro status: It's a factor, not a guarantee. Four of Pandarosa's top five were chondro-positive. Cyrus Ridge's lone chondro heifer sold below her non-chondro sisters. Pandarosa's third-highest seller (Mira, $18,500) was chondro-negative. The difference comes down to the full package: micro size, color, temperament, and buyer trust in the seller. Chondro amplifies value when the rest of the package is already strong.

On color: Silver and white continue to command attention. Roan variations (blue roan, frosted) are holding value. Novelty patterns like riggit can produce outlier prices, but that's a very thin market. Reds, duns, and blacks are solid. They just don't generate the same social media excitement.

If you're trying to figure out what colors your breeding pairs might produce, we just launched a Highland cattle coat color calculator on Creatures that lets you plug in sire and dam genetics and see the probability spread for offspring. It's free to use. And if you're buying or selling, the Creatures marketplace has a great selection of animals from fully verified breeders like us.

On platform and audience: The gap between Pandarosa's results and Willoughby's isn't usually about animal quality. It's about years of audience-building, consistent branding, and buyer relationships. If you're consigning to a multi-seller auction without your own following, price accordingly.

On reserves: December isn't spring. Buyers are being selective. If you set reserves based on what you hope your animal is worth rather than what the current market will bear, you're likely to bring that animal home. Willoughby's 41% clearance rate tells that story clearly.

On bulls: They cleared in the $3k–$5k range across every sale. Unless you have something truly exceptional (or you're bundling semen rights like Dunkin in the Willoughby auction), that's your band. Price accordingly and they'll move.

The market isn't crashing. It's sorting. Buyers are being selective, not cheap. And the animals that fit today's use cases (pets, agritourism, small acreage charm) are still clearing just fine when priced for reality.

Until next time, and merry Christmas!

Elliott