Guys around here have told me that they're very thrifty cattle (ie, they do well on hard range feed), and with those horns, they can protect themselves well, but they gain weight very, very slowly, even if you put them on a pretty good diet.

And when it comes time to send them to the sale barn, no one wants to deal with those horns.

They are cute buggers tho. And very placid, from the few I've seen.

Best reason I can think to own them would be if you're a single cattleman and you're looking to attract a gal. Chicks never fail to coo and say "oh, they're soooooooo cuuuuuute!" when they see a Highland calf.