Nitrogen utilisation of Scottish Highland suckler beef was measured in two different high altitude grazing systems. Milk production with Brown Swiss dairy cows served as a control. The experiment lasted for two alpine seasons and 40 animals were employed in total. One of the alpine environments was unimproved offering extensive grazing only whereas the other had been greatly improved and was intensively and rotationally grazed. Suckler beef calves had very similar daily gains in both environments and both seasons. Extensively grazed beef had numerically higher N intakes than intensively grazed beef, consequently N utilisation was slightly lower; neither difference was statistically significant. However, both groups utilised nitrogen significantly less than dairy cows. Estimated N loss via urine relative to N intake was significantly higher in both beef groups compared to dairy, primarily as a result of the lower N utilisation.