Hate to admit it, but my dear ol' dad used to have a good sized bunch of Highland cows. Looked just like those in your photo, Denny. Can't say that he ever really had his finger on the pulse of the industry, however. Luckily that phase didn't last too long. One word that describes their advantage over most any other breed is "Hardy". I don't know of another cow that can take the cold and rough country like a Highland cow. Those ol' girls are pretty tough and even good natured, but can get a little hooky at calving time. Course you won't need to pull any calves, as evidenced by their design. Little teddy-bear calves of all colors including red, black, yellow, grey, etc.
When it comes to converting feed to pounds of beef, well now that's another story.
One friend of Dad's did buy some steer calves from him once to try to make roping steers. Failed at that venture as they were just too short and dumpy to ever run fast enough to warrant a chase!