Study Tour Examines New Technologies on Scottish Farms

Last month a group of 35 dairy farmers from Fermanagh and West Tyrone benefitted from a three day study tour to S. W Scotland. The aim of the study tour was to study technology adopted for improving cow welfare and comfort within the context of different systems of milk production. It included visits to the Scottish Agricultural College’s Dairy Research Centre at Dumfries and four commercial dairy farms .The trip was organised by local dairying development adviser, Mr Alan Warnock, and was generously sponsored by the Vaughan Trust.

The main aim of the research programmes at the Dairy Research Centre at Dumfries is to develop and test sustainable breeding and management systems for dairy cattle.  Particular emphasis is place on improving health and welfare of the animals.  The Acrehead Dairy Unit which was built in the late 1970s was recently refurbished with new cubicles, a new milking parlour and additional slurry storage.  The alteration to the cow cubicle area was achieved by removing external walls to increase cubicle bed length by 450mm and replacing with cantilever type cubicles and mattresses.  A new 24 x 24 Westfalia milking parlour was installed with improved stock handling facilities.  Acrehead is within a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone and an above ground slurrystore was installed to provide additional slurry storage.  The dairy herd at Acrehead is milked three times a day and has a milk yield of 8625 litres per cow at 4.10 percent butterfat and 3.41 percent protein.

The first farm visited was jointly owned by brothers Rayner and John McKinley near Ballantrae. This is very much a family farm as  Rayner and John each have a son farming full-time.  The home farm comprises 180 hectares of which 28 hectares are woodland, eight hectares spring barley and the remaining acreage grassland.  They also own a 40 hectare out farm which is in grassland and is used mainly for grazing young cattle.  The main enterprise is a dairy herd of 240 dairy cows which are mainly British Fresian.  They are mated to British Fresian sires to produce dairy herd replacements and Limousin and Aberdeen Angus sires to produce suckler herd replacements and store cattle.  All the calves from the dairy herd are reared with the store cattle being sold at 18-24 months of age and the suckler herd replacements sold springing or just calved.  The farmers were impressed with the conformation and robustness of the cows many of which were bred from Dovea Sem and Dovea Bass.

Kenneth Campbell farms 208 hectares near Castle Douglas.  The main enterprises are a dairy herd of 375 Holstein cows and 329 dairy young stock.  The dairy cows are managed on a total confinement system and calve all year round.  The average milk yield per cow is 8,664 litres with a concentrate usage of three tonnes per cow.  This system seemed attractive on the very wet morning of our visit but it did have high costs with the purchased feed costs alone being 8.45 pence per litre.  While the milk price over the past 12 months had been 26.35 pence per litre it had fallen to 22 pence per litre.  Mr Campbell said that this current price was just a break even situation for his system of milk production.

Mark Callander farms 600 hectares of which he owns  440 hectares near Castle Douglas.  He runs two dairy herds – 700 cows and 200 cows and rears all his replacement heifers.  The cows are mainly Ayrshire and Ayrshire cross and calve all year round.  They are not managed in a total confinement system but on the day of the visit they were housed due to the very wet weather.  The large scale of this operation was reflected by the work-force of seven full-time staff and the erection of a new shed 220 feet long for dry cows, calving pens and calf-rearing.  Mark was quite optimistic about future prospects for milk production and planned to further expand his dairy enterprise.  

The fourth commercial dairy farm visited was owned by Raymond Beggs who lives and farms in the Isle of Man.  Prior to moving to the Isle of Man Raymond farmed at Clonkee, Newtownbutler. He purchased this 190 acre farm near Portpatrick in 2005 and employs a full-time dairyman and part-time tractor man to run the farm.  Raymond visits the farm on a regular basis and commutes by hiring a light aircraft which flies him from the Isle of Man to a nearby airstrip.  The main enterprise is a dairy herd of 220 cows and 200 with 165 calving in the spring and the remainder autumn calving.  This system of milk production is based on maximising the input of grazed grass.  The grazing area is divided into 10-12 acre blocks which provide three to four grazings and is accessed by a good network hardcore lanes.  An average milk yield of 5700 litres per cow with 4.21 percent butterfat and 3.65 percent protein is being achieved from a concentrate usage of 1 tonne per cow and some brewers grains.  All the cows are mated to New Zealand Fresian and Jerseys sires and up to 100 heifer calves are reared each year.  Usually only 40 heifers are needed for herd replacement and the remaining heifers are sold in calf.

The members of the study tour were able to study at first hand the technologies adopted by the SAC Dairy Research Centre to improve cow welfare and comfort for the different dairy systems, albeit on a larger scale than most dairy units in Fermanagh. The group was impressed with the free draining nature of the soil type on the farms visited.  While the group members were envious of the higher milk prices currently being experienced by Scottish dairy farmers they were mindful how quickly these can fluctuate.

The group of farmers from Fermanagh and West Tyrone who undertook the Scottish study tour with host farmer Mr Raymond Beggs and his farm staff (on extreme left)

Mr Rayner McKinley, host farmer, (in boiler suit) explaining the breeding of his dairy herd to members of the study tour when they visited the McKinley farm.

Mr Hugh McClymont farm manager at the Dairy Research Centre, Dumfries, outlining the research projects being carried out to the visiting farmers from Fermanagh and West Tyrone.