farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 1

BRITISH BLONDETel: 024 7641 9058

Fax:024 7641 9082

Why use a BLONDE Bull?

¢ Easy Calving¢ Length and

confirmation ¢ High Killing Out % ¢ Improved Grades¢ Hardiness

Forthcoming SalesCarlisle

Fri October 23rdFri March 5th

We will be delighted to see you on our stand atAgriExpo on 31st October and Highland Winter

Fair on 25th November

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 2

CONTENTS farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

Eilidh MacPherson

49

Sheep

3

farmingscotlandis written, edited and designed inScotland. This publication reportsindustry wide over the whole ofScotland and N of England and isdistributed free for farmers andcrofters to abattoirs, livestock markets, farm supplies and SERIDoffices from the Borders to theButt of Lewis, from Stranraer to theShetland Isles and Clitheroe toCumbria.

EDITOR: Eilidh MacPherson Glengowan, Scaur WaterThornhill, DumfriesshireTel: 01848 600286 Mobile: 0797 7897867editor@farmingscotland.comwww.farmingscotland.com

PUBLISHER - Eilidh MacPhersonCover - Gundog Athelsatneford, E LothianText and photography by Eilidh MacPhersonunless otherwise stated

Page 4 - Bayden Wilson

Page 6 - Willie Morrison

Page 8 - top left & 2nd btm, Gwen Wallace

Page 15 - bottom right, Glenside

Page 16 - SCRI

Page 17 - Biocell

Page 18 - Rhidian Jones

Page 20 - Hugh Stringleman

Page 22 - Howard Keane

1015

Beef

spread and explains the system andhas a farmer focus.

I went to the on farm sale at LogieDurno, which was highlighted in thelast issue. Willie Morrison, whohelped out with the recording data atthe sale has penned an interestingpiece on recording.

Arable correspondent – AndrewArbuckle – has covered the Potatoevent.

I attended the Fort Dodge/NSASheep Scab event and Cydectin LongActing product launch on Tuesday thisweek. A panel of five industry leading lights took the floor on thetopic of eradicating Sheep Scab inScotland. Scottish NSA ChairmanJimmy Sinclair and his wife Christineand son Graeme, who farm Crookston,near Heriot, laid on a fantastic lambbased lunch for the 3-400 farmersand industry representatives, who hadtravelled from farm and wide onprobably the best day of recentweeks. As this magazine is about toroll onto the press a full report will beincluded in the next issue.

This month I've interviewedthree beef farmers, two breeder/ finishers and a finisher, one in

Angus and the other two in WestLothian. Considering the weather,torrential downpours and not a lot ofsunshine I'm delighted to have managed to escape the showers forthe photos. Unfortunately by thetime we toured round the Angus cattle at grass on Burnshot it wasalmost monsoon conditions and thecattle were in shelter under the trees.

For me the on farm interviews arethe highlight of my job, meeting andtalking to the farmers and having agreat look round their properties.Many farmers are looking at cuttingcosts and it is interesting to see howthey go about it so differently, be itadapting machinery or just tweakinga feed system to save some time.

Hugh Stringleman reports fromTexas, where he attended theInternational Union of JournalistsAGM. He covers energy in this issue.

Bayden Wilson of RissingtonBreedline has the opening double page

1819

Education

20 World MarketsEnergy

15

16

ArablePotatoes

farmingscotlandIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

FeatureGregor MacKenzie

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David Steven's sheep enterprisewas constricted by the labourrequirement of indoor

lambing. With fertile traditionalbreeds scanning in the 220 - 230%range, and various housing related animal health losses he was not getting enough lambs out the farmgate. Especially considering the highfixed cost investment, labour and concentrate feed expense.

David decided that to have a viablesheep business he needed to grow thescale of his sheep flock to reducefixed costs and labour per ewe, without a drop off in productivity.He believes he needs to get to 1000ewes capable of being run by half alabour unit. To do this he needed tosource genetics with high maternaland survival qualities, suitable for outdoor lambing. He has changed toNew Zealand type sheep; initially theRomney and for the past 2 yearsRissington Breedline 'Highlander'maternal and 'Primera' terminal breeds.

Why the Rissington Breedlinegenetics? The Highlander (a Romney,Finn and NZ Texel composite) offeredfertility and high quality milk on amoderate frame size and still suited totrouble free outdoor lambing. Theyalso offered a good option to mateewe lambs to lamb as a hogget. TheHighlander breeding index selects forefficiency to maximize lamb output

per kg of feed (grass) eaten. While building flock numbers the

Highlander is mated to all ewes andonly in lamb ewe hoggets are retained.Ewes are culled heavily based onweaning performance. An averagelambing date of 18 April achieved anaverage lamb growth rate of 275g/dayover 107 days to wean at 33.5kg. Theweaning draft killed out at 21kg at50% yield, which was higher thanexpected.

Interestingly twin lambs on theimproved grass (1-5yrs) grew @299g/day to 36kg. Twins off old pastures grew @ 252g/day to 31kg.The 630 ewes ran on 90 acres at astocking rate of 7 ewes/acre up toweaning. The extra production fromthe improved grasses recouped theregrassing cost in one year, based onlamb produced, plus giving earliersaleable lambs.

The ewe lambs were mated to terminal Primera rams for easy lambing and fast growth. The Primerais a composite of traditional Britishmeat breeds. The ewe hoggetsweaned 256 lambs (84%) from 305mated (49 were barren). 100% basedon hoggets wintered, which was thegoal. The lambs grew @ 242g/day towean at 29kgs @ 107 days. (Not toofar behind the ewes)

The sheep are complimentary tohis other enterprises and with other

farmers, utilizing grazing options especially over winter. Improvedgrasses are down for 5 years prior to4 years in crop, with benefits to the sustainability of yields in the crop-ping enterprise. David is now consid-ering pasture renewal on the unim-proved grasses unsuitable for crop-ping, favouring a minimal tillageoption via a Kale crop.

David is also part of a Marks &Spencer supply group for Primerasired lamb processed by Scotbeef.The supply contract is seen as abonus, but the overriding farm policydecision is that the genetics deliver onfarm. Once the initial goal of 1,000ewes has been met there will be theopportunity to mate up to half theflock to the Primera and increaseoverall lamb output from the farm unit.

With improvement in pasture andgenetic productivity the sheep enterprise will challenge other (beef &crop) options within his system. Towarrant employing a full time shepherdDavid believes a sheep flock needs tobe a minimum of 2,000 ewes to befinancially viable. Future decisions togrow his flock will be determinedbased on sustainable profitability, butimportantly he is building a flockmodel that is scaleable.

With 4 boys under six Harry, Seb,Jamie and Robbie labour should notbe the limiting factor!

FARM FACTS

Farmers: David & Sarah Steven

Farming: Redhouse of Barra

Location: Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire

Sheep: Self replacing sheep flock640 Romney & HighlanderX ewes250 HighlanderX ewe hoggets

Cattle: 230 predominantly Limousin cows with all progeny finished

Crops: 300 acres crop Barley, Wheat and Rape20 acres of Strawberries and Raspberries

farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

SHEEP

Growingour SheepBusiness

Rissington Breedline utilises largenucleus flock size, accuraterecording using DNA tools,

limited human intervention, grassbased systems and specific breedingindexes to manage genetic gain.

The Highlander index is aimed todeliver maternal ewe efficiency, tomaximise lamb output, with a largeemphasis on survival. Feed input efficiency is estimated by eweliveweight. Ewe longevity has a

bearing on replacement rate. In addition Nucleus breeding sires areselected based on parasite resistencegenemarkers. The Primera indexmeasures growth with the majoremphasis on the retail value of meat

from ram progeny. Rams are measured for birthweight to aid lambsurvival. Nucleus rams are evaluatedfor meat quality and taste based onongoing genemarker evaluation fromtaste panels in the UK

by BaydenWilson

Rissington Breedline

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s

d

Rissington Breedline UK

2009 on Farm open days

3 September Scottish Borders11am -1pm Focus on lambing outdoors, self replacing flock

Property of Kevin Stewart, Gattonside

2pm - 5pm Hill farm options , Forage & Genetic updateDrew Guthrie, Bowhill, Selkirk,

10 September Aberdeenshire2pm - 5pm Self replacing flock, lambing outdoors, forage & Genetic update

David Stephen, Old Meldrum

For further information or to register please contact:Richard Wilkie (Eng. & Wales) ph 07949802196 email richard.wilkie@rissington.comBayden Wilson (Scotland & Ireland) ph 07903484881 email bayden@rissington.com Rissington Breedline Office, Bowhill ph 0175023739, website: www.rissington.com

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farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

SHEEP

One of the interesting featuresat this year's Logie Durno FarmRam Sale was the graphical

representation of performance recordingresults, using bar charts produced bythe Topline Charter system.

Topline Charter is a reportingprocess providing performance data ina user-friendly format so that potential buyers can make informeddecisions when selecting stock to suittheir needs. The visual presentationof performance recording results, isgenerally easier to interpret and morehelpful to the end-user than the traditional tabular format more generally used in the sheep industry.

This chart, derived from the figures underneath, offers an instantguide to the strengths and weaknessesof Ram 8155.

The charts enable potential buyersto assess and compare the merits ofdifferent animals quickly – an animal'sstrengths and weaknesses in key production traits can be assessed at aglance. The higher the rating the better the breeding potential. It isclear, for example, that this ram's

overall index is well above average, asis his 8 week weight, Scan Weightand Muscle Depth, while his FatDepth rating is below average.

The production of Sale Pen Cardsis just one part of the Topline Chartersystem developed by Topline DataLtd, a Highlands based companymanaged by Willie Morrison. Willie,who has been involved in perform-ance recording for many years, main-tains that while the level of precisionof EBV figures given in the reports generally used in this country may benecessary in some instances the vastmajority of breeders and buyers donot need such detail.

“The purpose of performancerecording is to help identify the best

breeding animals and one of the mainproblems we have had over the yearshas been with the presentation andinterpretation of results. It is noteasy to select stock or make comparisons from rows and columnsof densely packed figures. TheTopline system was developed specifically to help breeders whorecord their flocks manage theirresults effectively. It allows breedersto look quickly through their performance results for the data thatinterests them and provides charts ondemand for all the different categories of stock in a flock. Theresults can be sorted in differentways: by overall rating, by any trait,top 10%, top 20% etc., etc. and datapulled out and charts drawn, so thatstock selection is simplified.

Incidentally, the detailed figurescan also be made available, if desired,alongside the chart or in a separatetable in the traditional way.”

Sheep judge at a recent ScottishWinter Fair, Robert Coghill ofStemster Mains, Caithness, says, “Ihave been involved with performance

recording for over 30 years and this isfar and away the best method of presenting the results that I've seen –and it is so simple to use too, givingaccess to all the available informationin a clear and uncomplicated way.However, to really appreciate thepower of the package you've got tosee it in operation.”

Rod McKenzie of the ScottishSheep Strategy commented: “I feelthat these charts can be of benefit toboth breeders who record and tocommercial producers. I've used thesystem and it is a great help in work-ing with the results while the pencards provide an easy to understandoverview of a sheep's breeding potential.”

www.topline-data.co.uk

Here the user is interested in Muscle Depth, and also wants to keep an eye on the overallshow Muscle Depth, and the blue bars show Index.

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verall Index. The narrow pale coloured bars

EnviroBed has been on the marketfor 8 years, and over this timewe have strived to make our

bedding the most comfortable andabsorbent product on the market. At95% dry matter this paper bedding is5 times more absorbent than sawdustand 10 times more absorbent thanstraw. It is made from the short-fibrewaste material produced in paperrecycling; so there is a constant, non-weather dependable supply ofEnviroBed throughout the year.

Ideal for use on mats and mattresses,EnviroBed is a dense product, whicheffectively stays on cubicles in open,airy sheds. It readily biodegrades andcan be easily spread onto land, comprising of a weak alkaline pH.

This pH of 7-7.4 is unattractive tothe growth of mastitis-causing bacteria-ultimately lowering cell counts.

“My farm was one of a hundredthat took part in a study of dairy herdhealth carried out jointly by theUniversities of Bristol and Warwick.We came top in the control of environmental mastitis. Only twoyears ago all three of our farms hadcell count problems. I put this dramatic improvement solely down tothe introduction of EnviroBed,” statesRichard Calver of Westcombe HillFarm, Shepton Mallet.

This innovative concept in beddingleads to cleaner, healthier cows andother animals – your solution to bed-ding for the future!

BOCM PAULS as part of it'scontinuing expansion inScotland has increased it's

presence by recruiting three new andexperienced sales support executivesand announcing its intention to opena new BOCM PAULS Agri BusinessDesk in Motherwell, Lanarkshire.The three new recruits Lynn Gardner,Shona Brown and Yvonne Weir haveworked at the farmer-facing end ofthe Scottish feed industry for a combined total of 26 years, and havea strong technical knowledge andaffinity with the livestock industry.

The new team will function as asales support team for both BOCMPAULS representatives and for themerchants, which BOCM PAULSworks particularly closely with acrossthe North of England and Scotland.They will help sell compound feedsmanufactured from the BOCM millat Penrith; blends out of Turriff FarmFeeds and Kingans Farm Feeds atBrydekirk; and straights, distillery andbrewery co-products from across theregion. Also, in a significant departure from their previous rolewhen they were engaged purely in adirect sales capacity, the team willalso support merchant sales.

“We have a different work ethic inBOCM PAULS to many other companies, in that we work with ourmerchant partners rather than workin competition with them,” saysGrant Spittal, BOCM PAULS'sScottish sales manager.

“ Lynn, Shona and Yvonne are allexperienced, respected and knowledgeable operators, well likedby Scottish livestock farmers, andwho contribute in a positive way tofarm businesses. They will continueto do that, and will help generateadditional sales opportunities for ourmerchants and ourselves.”

The move to recruit the new teamis further evidence of BOCMPAULS's commitment to ScottishAgriculture, adds Mr Spittal. Threeyears ago the company had to revampmuch of its sales team acrossScotland, but since then BOCMPAULS has invested significantly inits people, product range andinfrastructure, and sales volumesacross the region have steadily grownand are now significantly above 2006levels. The two new blend plantsnow collectively handle around60,000 tonnes of feed a year, withexpansion at Turriff being particularlyrapid – going from zero tonnes in2007 to 20,000t now. New productsand an innovative feed “conditioning”technology introduced by the company this winter at both Turriffand Kingans will reduce the cost ofenergy and protein to the farmers insome compound and blend raw materials and will also contribute tothe volume growth.

BOCM Growth

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farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

SHEEP

Scottish National

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farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009SHEEP

An outstanding performance wasstaged recently in Ayrshire –the annual Charity Speed

Shear hosted by local shearing contractor Chris Reid. The capacitycrowd were fully entertained with anovel relay following the main event.Twelve teams competed in the pieeating, sheep shearing, pint downing,banana guzzling finale, with the ‘HillBillies’ topping the bill board.

Earlier in the evening shearers hadto shear a lamb against the clock,with the top four in each sectionqualifying for the final shear. ArchiePaterson, claimed the Young Farmertitle in 29.62 seconds, while CalumShaw, Saline, Fife nailed theIntermediates in 30.30s. Localfarmer and contractor Michael Logan,

pictured left discussing the finer pointsof shearing, took out the farmer class.

Sixteen shearers took to the stand inthe Open, with a quarter making thefinal. English shearer, Joel Barton (above in the teams event) was 4th on29.31, Kiwi Willie Hewittson camethird on 28.67. Last years winner WullDickson, Duns was pushed into secondthis year (27.52s) by up and comingGrant Lundie, Dundee – 26.24s.

The Scottish Sheep ShearingAssociation held their meeting andcompetition in the afternoon. MikeDagg, Melrose, pictured in the pie eating event was champion in the individual with his mate Wull Dicksonsecond. Andrew Baille took third andthen won the teams for Lanarkshirepaired with Dye Clark, Lesmahagow.

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Bazadaiseat

Blackridge

Spotting a Bazadaize at the RoyalHighland Show twelve yearsago was the turning point for

Iain Orr, Standhill Farm, Blackridge,West Lothian.

“I liked the idea of easy calving asI was sick of pulling Charolais.Touch wood I’ve not used the calvingmachine this year at all,” quippedIain, who is almost finished the calving.

He tries to calve the bulk in Mayand June and is currently using threebought in Bazadaise sires (pronounced baz-a-day). Two are relatively local hailing from WillieCrawford, Hatton Mains, Kirklistonand the third was long haul fromRachel Loadman, Richmond.

Calves birth weights are considerably lighter than otherContinental breeds, weighing from35-42kgs, allowing for easy calving.“The muscling develops after a couple of weeks,” said Iain, “ andthey are ready to market by 15months.”

Previously Iain sold the cattlethrough the ring at Stirling, but following a visit from auctioneer,Billy Stott, who sells at John Swan’sin the Borders and said he could sellthe cattle well, Iain, who is also contract arable farming nearHaddington decided to give it a go.

“I started taking a couple a weekover a year ago and the butchers arenow asking for them. Usually thesame five names are usually on thelines. I drive down myself, as thereare virtually no hauliers left in thearea, apart from Stewarts of Boness.

“The butchers find that there isvirtually no waste and a high killingout percentage as they are fineboned. At the end of the day it ismeat yield that pays us and thebutchers.”

Iain finds that Billy gives a greatafter care service and is delightedwith the prices, having topped the

market on several occasions. “I didn’trealise until I bought my own weighscales just how much weight a beastcan lose in transit. They lose between30-40kgs en route!”

It was a joint decision to purchasethe first bull, but considering Iain currently spends a lot of time offfarm and his father is trying to take aback seat, it was a wise move, “aswith me being away at Haddingtonthe last thing I need is a difficult calving.”

With only six breeders in Scotlandand 51 across the UK, there has beena problem growing the breed “as people don’t like change.”

Iain and his wife, Rona, wererecently invited by the AustralianBazadaise Society to the Beef Expoand the Eastern States earlier thisyear and were well impressed withthe cattle out there. “Not what Iexpected, there are a lot of nice cattleout there, but they are selected fordifferent attributes – so they can walk50 miles a day and longetivity.

Four years ago Iain took on anarable contact near Haddington. “Thefarmer had got stuck in a bit of a rutand wanted fresh ideas. I managed,bought all the seed, fert and

chemicals, sold the crops and madethe decisions, while he worked. Hebasically wanted less responsibility. Imore than doubled his income in thesecond year as he had been doingthings his father had been doing. Ireduced seed rates, did all repairs,shopped about for deals.”

The contract ends on 28thNovember and Iain is returning tofarm full time at Standhill.

farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

BEEF

FARM FACTS

Farmer: Iain & his father John Orr

Farming: Standhill,450 acres ownedrents 23 acres for silageruns arable contract

Location: Blackridge, W Lothian

Cattle: 100 cattle, mixture of breeds but using Bazadaise bulls on all

Sheep: summered to controlRagwort

Crops: 150 acres wheat & barley all used on farm

Fed up calvingCharolais, IainOrr, Standhill,Blackridge experimentedwith Bazadiaseand nows runs100 head toppingSt Boswells several times.

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BiBBB EQUIPMENTThe BiBBB Catcher Crate

* One man operation

* Simple crush inside allows handling/calving etc in the field.

* Caught animals can be walked to new location.

* Calf Nest is available as an extra to carry a newborn calf.

* Provides a safe environment in which to tag a newborn calf

by excluding the possessive mother.

Bill Ritchie,Whauphill, Strichen, Fraserburgh,

Aberdeenshire, AB43 6NY

Tel/Fax: 01771637 413 E-mail:bibbb@lycos.co.uk

11

THE BRITISH BAZADAISE

CATTLE SOCIETY

BREEDING BETTER BEEFTo find out more visit our website at

www.bazadaise.org.uk

Or contact The Secretary, British Bazadaise Cattle Society6 Town Close, HOLT, Norfolk .NR25 6JN

Tel:01263 713507 email: cmatthews@bazadaise.org.uk

Frank Nicol Farm & Garden Machinery LtdStrathpeffer Rd, Dingwall, Ross-Shire IV15 9QF

01349 863854

www.franknicol.co.uk

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Consistently hitting the supermarket specification forcattle carcasses on the hook is

par for the course at Shandford.Running 360 head of cattle, mainly

Limousin cross Friesians, sourcedfrom an Uncle’s farm in Ayrshire, theMather family partnership favour theCharolais to sire their cow herd anduse Shorthorn bulls over the heifers.

Charolais were first introduced tothis Angus property in the early ‘70’sand in 1979 a heifer was purchasedfrom the Adams of Newhouse. Shehas been the only French femalebought in, forming the basis of thepure Charolais herd, which now numbers 20 cows.

“Over the years we have triedLimmys and Blondes but preferCharolais. We find they have a betterdaily live weight gain and finish earlier”, explained Graeme Mather(senior), who farms in partnershipwith no less than six other membersof the Mather clan. His mother, olderbrothers William and David, theirsons Scott and Grant and his own sonGraeme make up the Magnificent 7.

Calving is split in two, with thefirst 120 giving birth from March tillthe end of April. All male calves areleft entire and are reared on a homegrown bull beef system, usually hanging up at ABP, Perth at 360-380kgs dwt at 13 months of age. Keepingthem entire is certainly not to theirdetriment as they finish faster andproof positive that the meat is just astasty, Graeme picked up a third placing and a food hamper at theASDA Steak competition at the RoyalHighland Show in June.

The heifers are grazed and finishedtraditionally around 18-20 months,weighing in at 310-320kgs dwt, overthe scales at ABP.

The rest of the commercial cattlecalve outside from mid May till theend of June. Bull calves are castratedand sold as forward stores at 16months at Forfar market. “A lot doend up at ABP through other finishers,” added Graeme.

Pedigree bulls are bred with manybeing used in house on the commercial cattle. Some are soldthrough the ring and some privately.“We just buy a bull every couple ofyears for new blood. BalthayockCaspar was our last purchase inSeptember last year. They calvedwell and we are pleased with his offspring. We look at linage, conformation and figures when buyingand he has good figures for us.”

All the cattle are housed for thewinter months, with the spring calvers

heading inside a month before thesummer calved cows. Silage, swedes,treated straw and minerals are mixedand fed out of a Hi-Spec TMR.

The Mathers have devised theirown recording system and presentedfigures showing the difference in liveweight gain between the Charolaiscalves and the Shorthorns atShandford. The continental calveswere averaging 1.57kgs gain a day,while the slower maturing Shorthornswere weighing in at 1.08kgs daily.Birth weights, slaughter weights andkilling out percentages are all inputand recorded.

Heifers are bought in from Forfar,numbering seventy this year as theyare trying to make up numbers as allOCD cattle were put away to simplify things.

A clean grazing system is practiced– cattle one year, sheep the next. “Itmakes lambs a lot cleaner. We usedto have a problem with Coccidiosis,”admitted Graeme, “but not now.”

A large mob of lambs had beenspeaned earlier in the day of my visit,pictured bottom right. Lambs arepredominantly finished off grass butwith the wet summer they have notbeen thriving as well as normal.

I must admit I was amazed thatthere were so many family membersin the partnership and the workforce,but as they say many hands makelight work. At Shandford they like tokeep as much work in house as possible and tackle machinery repairsthemselves. All silage work and harvesting is carried out by the familyas is the sheep shearing. “The boyshave made good use of BWMB shearing courses and did it all themselves,” commented Graeme aswe passed a field of well shorn sheep,free from any ridges and tassels.

Half the 1000 head ewes are Texelcrosses which are mated to Suffolksand the rest are North of EnglandMules sired by the Texel. The lambsare run through the weigh crate andfrom 40kgs plus they are drafted offand if well fleshed head for ForfarMarket.

Small pedigree flocks of Texels andSuffolks enable the Mathers to pickout the best for themselves and sell afew locally. “Any tups we buy in meltwhen we take them home – it is theruination of a lot of sheep. This farmis quite kind to sheep, others musthave horrendous losses. I would liketo see more tups turned out naturallyand not pushed,” avered Graeme.

Bulk feed from Harbro, fed out bya snacker has reduced the time andeffort spent feeding sheep.

farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

BEEF

from 350 feet on the arable ground to550 feet at the house and 1000 feeton the rough grazing, “see things differently and try to make things easier.” Graeme (jun) engineered aramp out of recycled materials so hecould check the stock on the quadwithout having to open the gate. Asecond calf-catching machine has justbeen purchased so calves can single-handedly be tagged and dehorned.

ShandfordCharolais

The Mathers have a good workingrelationship with John Dodds,Glenogil Estate. For the past fiveyears they have shepherded 2600Blackface wethers on 9000 acres on acontract basis. “Our dogs haveimproved dramatically since we tookon this contract and his grouse haveincreased – 1000 brace were last year.”

The younger generation of farmerson this mixed property, which rises

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FARM FACTS

Farmer: Mather & SonsMrs Mather in partnership with her sons William, David and Graeme and their sons;Scott, Grant and Graeme

Interview: Graeme Mather (sen)

Farming: Shandford, 1600acres owned800 acres tenanted fromJohn Dodds, Glenogil Est 2000 acres hill rented9000 acres hill on contractfrom Glenogil Estates

Location: Fern, Brechin, Angus

Cows: 360 breeding cows, mainly Limousin cross all covered by Charolais bullsheifers to Shorthorn bull20 pure Charolais cows

Sheep: 1000 ewes, Texel x & Mules20 pure Texels15 pure Suffolks2600 Blackies on contract

Crops: 550 acres cereals40 acres roots40 acres sublet for potatoes

Labour: 3 Mather brothers, their 3 sons, a tractor man and

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The Braes of Burnshot are synonymous with quality finished Aberdeen Angus cattle.

My first visit to Burnshot was in1984, while procuring cattle for amarketing group. The late BobbyBraes showed me round the cattlecourts – the buildings were full to thegunnels with black cattle at varyingstages of finish.

This time I met up with his sonRobin and his uncle William, at thenewly renovated Burnshot farmhousebefore heading round the property.Only about fifty bullocks, almostready for the hook, were housed thistime. The rest were at grass.

Black Angus are in vogue at themoment as, “we have never seen sucha large premium. It is normally 10-12p more per kilo than for otherbreeds but last month the premiumnearly doubled,” informed a wide-eyed William.

The duo purchase Angus bullocks,over 12 months old, from marketsacross Central Scotland. “They haveto be resident here for at least 90days for the Scotbeef deal – theSelect Farm Scheme,” said Robin.

“We buy in from trusted sources,some of the farms we have dealt withfor generations. If the cattle are rightand finish well we will go back andattempt to buy more, but they aregetting harder and harder to find,”said William, who had just returnedfrom St Boswells market empty handed.

The protocol at Burnshot with purchased stock is to check the eartag and passport first, before they gointo sheds or out to grass. Everythingis then logged onto the computer andthe passports are stored in boxesaccording to which field or pen eachbeast has been allocated.

“We then check the Angus sirename and number, which is sometimes on the rear of the passportas we have to know for Scotbeef. Wethen find out the dam breed so weknow if the individual is 50%, 75% orpure Angus as it makes a difference tohow much premium you get,” saidRobin who uses the first horseman’scottage to store his passports andprize winning paraphernalia.

“If the cattle are there we will buyevery week, but don’t purchase below410kgs as it takes too long to finishthem,” said William, who went on tosay: “The bulk of the finished cattle(95%) go to Scotbeef, but we haveprivate butchers that like certainweights of cattle. Sometimes wehave to be very choosy when selectingout of the courts. We have been dealing with one butcher shop since1928!”

Any Continental cattle that are finished head to private butchers andthe live markets.

“We occasionally get the odd badgrade, but on the whole we are quitesatisfied with performance,” saidRobin as we wandered round theyard.

“The biggest problem is with theEEC spec and what they take off thecarcase.”

Quite a few of the butchers, comedown to Burnshot as they like to seewhat the cattle look like on the hoof.“That is the benefit of dealing directwith the butchers as it makes themcomfortable to know what they aregetting.”

farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

BEEF

FARM FACTS

Farmers: R & R BraesRobin Braes & his uncle William

Farming: Burnshot500acres owned

Location: Blackness, Linltihgow,West Lothian

Cattle: Buys in & finishes 140090% are AA bullocks

Sheep: Finishes 700+ Blackfacelambs

Crops: 250 acres cerealsrents 54 acre for sprouts

Labour: Robin & Williamemploy 2 menRobin’s son Darren (15) helps out

Braes o’ Burnshot

The Braes aim to fatten as manycattle off grass as possible from thefields nearby. Cattle grazing furtheraway are housed for a month to sixweeks. Robin has a wee feedingregime, whereby he feeds the cattle ineach field some cake in a trough within a pen. This method enableshim to swing the gate shut wheneverthey need handled, saving time andenergy chasing cattle round fields.

The fifty currently in house are ona zero grazing system for the next fewweeks until the pit silage is ready forconsumption. Brock potatoes, bruisedbarley and high protein nuts areadded to the silage for an ad lib feed.

Not one for spending huge

Unfortunately it was teaming itdown, typical Scottish summerweather as we drove round the cattleat grass. They were huddled, sheltering under trees so I didn’t quiteget the idyllic photo of them grazingwith the backdrop of BlacknessCastle, where Mel Gibson (my moviehero) and other actors have starred inblock buster movies, in the background.

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 14

15

Farmers battling with ever-tighterrules on slurry storage and disposal should consider ways of

making their existing storage stretchas far as possible, and improve theefficiency with which they apply slurry to farmland.

Using products like Glenside'sSlurri-morr to treat stored slurry andthe company's OxyGenerator Super 6applicator when spreading it on landcan help them do that, says IanRobertson, Managing Director of theStirling-based The Glenside Group:

“Many farmers are already struggling to handle all the slurry theyproduce, and the introduction ofdefined spreading periods andincreasing influence of NVZs willplace greater pressure on their storagefacilities.

“But the capacity of any slurrystore can be cut further by a build upof thick sludge at the bottom, whileat the same time a hard crust mayform on the surface.

“Both the sludge and the crustmake it more difficult to ensure theslurry spreads evenly on the field,which can reduce the effectivenesswith which the nutrients the slurrycontains are used by the crops grownon the land where it is spread.

“Farmers using our Slurri-morrinnoculant report that the slurryremains far more consistent. Theycan achieve far more effective clearance of the slurry lagoon, whicheffectively increases its capacity, andthe slurry removed spreads far moreeasily, so spreading takes less timeand power and creates less smell.

“In addition the retention of nutrients – especially important elements like phosphate, potash,magnesium, copper and zinc – isimproved, which raises the slurry'snutritive value.

“In a series of ten trials comparingtreated and un-treated slurry, thetreated slurry had extra nutrientsworth over £200 for every 75,000gallons, with most notable increases

in important nutrients like phosphate,potash, magnesium, copper and zinc.It is shortages and imbalancesbetween nutrients like these thatoften reduce the productive efficiency of livestock and crops”,says Ian.

Slurri-morr is a freeze-dried slurryinnoculant that contains a range ofbeneficial bacteria that help breakdown the organic matter in the slurryand “fix” more of the ammonia andpotash content. This effectively raises its value as manure and reduceslosses to the atmosphere whenspreading on the field.

Small doses of the innoculant aremixed with the slurry throughout thelagoon filling and storage period, andprevent separation and nutrient loss,which ensures the product is moreeasily spread and retains its nutritivevalue when spread.

Applying treated slurry via theOxyGenerator Super 6 will furtherimprove the efficiency with which itis utilised.

Glenside's OxyGenerators userobust boron steel blades to penetrateup to 15cms into the soil and shattershallow compaction caused bymachinery and livestock treading, andrestore the natural cycle of water andair through the soil, which helpsensure it maintains its full productivecapacity.

OxyGenerators can be fully ballasted to help maintain penetrationin all conditions, with the bladesthemselves being able to be offset ateither three or five degree angles, sothey open up a sizeable slit thatensures efficient ingress of slurry orsubsequent rainfall, which optimisesnutrient retention and minimises run-off.

The new OxyGenerator Super 6includes umbilical fittings that enableslurry to be spread behind themachine, where the slits ensure muchof it is quickly absorbed by the soil soits nutritive value is maximised andlosses from volatilisation are reduced.

Solving Slurry Problems

Glenside Advertorial

amounts of money on a feed mixer,Robin adapted a moving floor muckspreader with housing at the back sothe flails mix the feed before it headsdown a chute into the feed pass.With older buildings the vintage tractors and unique feed mixers worka treat at a fifth of the cost or a TMRmachine! “The only difference is thatmy version cannot weigh the feed,but it is ad-lib anyway so doesn’t really matter,” said Robin.

“I do all my own haulage and collect 25t of potatoes a week in thelorry. We used to feed them wholebut had a few beasts choke on themso now pulverise them. We use 75%of the barley and sell the rest formalting.”

At Burnshot are usually in goodhealth, “as we buy from trustedsources,” stressed William. They havefound that if there are any cases ofpneumonia they are always in oneshed – the one with an asbestos roof.

To keep ringworm away the Braeshang male holly (no berries) in thecattle courts. “An old guy told us thisyears ago and we thought it would bean old wives tale. But the wee bit ofringworm that was present cleared upand we haven’t been bothered by itsince!” shared William.

The handling facilities were built inthe 80’s and work well. An OzzieSuperscooper device is attached tothe front of the crush. It is ideal forlifting cows heads for tagging.

For the past fifty years or so theBraes have been buying and finishingBlackface lambs. Last year theybought 500 from Stirling, UA and200 North Country Cheviots from StBoswells. William reckons that it ishard to get good Blackie lambs thesedays. He buys top draw lambs as,“some come off the high hard hillsand it is quite a change for them andwe need them to survive. He bids forthe same lambs every year and wasvery sketchy with information! Theybuy from September and start sellingat the end of January.

The lambs are put on undersown grass and receive some bar-ley in rougher weather. “Theresidue of the Brussels sprouts isexcellent feed for them. We hadnone inside last year – it was anexceptional year for lambs. Wehave found you need good dogsfor handling Blackie lambs,” saidWilliam.

Apart from letting out the landfor Brussels sprouts, the onlyother worker to come on farm isthe contract hedge trimmer, sothe boys at Burnshot have theirwork cut out for themselves withhorn and corn.

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 15

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Scottish potato growers may havethe consolation that they havenot had to irrigate their crops

this season with rainfalls in July andAugust being the highest experiencedfor the past fifty years.

However, the downside to savinglabour and fuel costs on adding waterto this season’s crop has been thereduction in the value of the crop.

Prices for crops being lifted andsold off the field are currently 10% to20% less than a year ago, and trading,based on April 2010 futures, arenow 30% to 40% less than twelvemonths previously. That is why, whilethere was a record number of growersand merchants at this year’s Potatoesin Practice event held outside Dundee,there was not a record number ofwide grins and happy faces. All of thetalk was of containing costs andreducing expenditure although it wasobvious from the various seminarsheld at the event, additional costswould be incurred in abiding by thelatest pieces of legislation funnellingthrough from Brussels.

In the opening address, Fiona Fell,an independent member of the PotatoCouncil and the chair of itsKnowledge Transfer committee,emphasised the need for cost

effectiveness in carrying out researchwork. “The UK Government(DEFRA) has cut funding for basicresearch and we must be smarter inbringing together centres and deliverresults which will help growers.”

She added that growers shouldvalue the work that was being carriedout by scientists as this was critical toensuring this country continued tohave a competitive industry.

However, those growers listeningto the potential consequences of theimplementation of the EU PesticidesDirective and the Water FrameworkDirective, both of which will gradually reduce the number of pesticides that can be used, mighthave wondered how they wouldremain competitive.

Rob Clayton, of the PotatoCouncil, revealed research whichshowed that crop yields could drop by15% in the next decade with theremoval of several major pesticidesthat are currently used to control diseases such as blight, and pests suchas eelworm. The research work identifying the consequence of removing certain key chemicals wascarried out to help prioritise futureresearch by the industry.

Blight has afflicted the potato

ARABLEfarmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

Potatoes in Practiceby

AndrewArbuckle

industry for the past two hundredyears and, far from being won, thebattle against this fungal disease isbecoming more difficult. “We arenow seeing an early blight strainthat is attacking crops two weeks earlier than usual and late blight isendemic. The result of this is that weneed to add an extra preventativespray at the beginning of our programme and another one at theend.”

The problem is that one of themain blight control chemicals,Mancozeb, is due to be taken out ofcommercial availability by 2014 as aresult of the European Pesticide legislation and there is no immediatereplacement.

Increasing the control on blightcould cost the industry an estimated£56 million annually, he said.

Although not affecting the Scottishseed crop, which has to be plantedon eelworm free ground, a large percentage of the good potato growingareas in the United Kingdom sufferfrom eelworm infestation, where oneof the main control methods is fumigation of the soil. Unfortunately,the main active ingredient in this control will be removed from theapproved list of chemicals as a

consequence of its being found insamples of water taken from nearbystreams. Again a cost tag of morethan £50 million was put against theloss of this particular chemical.

Another pesticide which facesbeing withdrawn because of long termconcerns over built up in watercourses is the main weaponagainst slug control. Metaldyhydes arenot only used in the potato crop toprevent tubers being attacked by slugsbut the same chemical is used inoilseed rape and other brassica crops.

However, it may well have to bewithdrawn because of concerns surrounding its long term use.

Even the control of weeds in futurepotato crops will be limited with thewithdrawal of several of the mainweapons. Almost all the currentchemicals with residual, or long last-ing, controls will be gone within thefive years and this will entail growersin the future being far more precise intheir war against weeds.

Mr Clayton summed the report upby saying that the way potatoes aregrown in this country will have tochange. A bigger percentage of thegrowing costs would require to be puttowards improving husbandry ratherthan just relying on the sprayer.

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57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 16

Yeast has been included in sheep diets for some years now, butBiocell agri limited have taken it a step further with extensive trialsinvolving both ewes and lambs, and finishing lambs. Trials have

been conducted on commercial farms, with the emphasis on profitability,but the trials have demonstrated significant health benefits too.

The inclusion of Biocell pure live yeast is demonstrated to improverumen function, energy supply, and fibre digestion. In ewes, this has ledto an improvement in milk quality, resulting in more even growth in twinlambs, and a reduction in twin-lamb disease and prolapses. This is a consequence of the mode of action of the live yeast in enhancing theactivity of the rumen bacteria, but in addition, the resulting healthier gutenvironment leads to an improvement in the absorption of essentialnutrients. Trace elements are, therefore, better utilised.

Trial 1 – Lamb creep containing the live yeast was shown to improvefeed conversion and reduce the time to reach target slaughter weight,saving feed costs by an average £5 per lamb. For trial purpose, 96 lambswere split into two groups. The control group was fed a creep containingno live yeast. The second group was fed the live yeast at a rate to matchthe demands of rapidly growing lambs. The objective was to demonstratewhether the response achieved in beef cattle could be reproduced inlambs. Live yeast is known to improve feed conversion efficiency andkilling out percentage, resulting in improvements in grading.

The randomly selected lambs were split into two groups, with a 3.5kgsaverage starting weight. All lambs had creep feed ad lib from ten daysold, and were monitored each day. Ram lambs fed the live yeast reached40kgs seventeen days earlier than the control group, taking only 106 dayscompared with 123 days for the control. Ewe lambs performed similarly, with a reduction of sixteen days in the time taken to reach40kgs – 126 days against 142 for the control.

These results mean a feed cost saving of 23.5p per lamb/day wasachieved, with additional savings in labour and other costs. The increasein growth rates produced a saving of £3.45 per lamb. In addition, extrafeed was saved in reaching the 40kgs target as a result of the improvedfeed conversion. Ram lambs ate 12kgs less, and ewe lambs 11kgs less,with an average additional saving of £1.80 per lamb. Including Biocell liveyeast in lamb creep costs on 2-3p per lamb/day, and is easily mixed onfarm.

Trial 2 – Finishing lambs at grass. The objective of the trial was toexamine the benefits of Biocell in finishing lambs at grass, and for thepurpose of the trial the yeast was pelleted for trough feeding. The trialarea (27.6 acres) was divided into three equal grazing areas. Lambs wereweaned on 3rd August, and the matched groups, each of 110 lambs werepicked from 500 lambs. A 15.5% protein pellet was fed at 0.5kg perhead/day.Group 1 - Pellets (no Biocell); Group 2 - Pellets + Biocell; Group 3Control. All groups had free access to minerals and salt licksObservations:

The Biocell group consumed less mineral, and cleaned up their feed.This group also grazed harder than the non-treated and controlgroups. In addition, the lambs fed Biocell had significantly less scald(foot-rot).Results of the 31 day trial period:

Total Gain DLWG15.5% Pellets + Biocell group 11.95kgs 0.385Pellets only 10.80kgs 0.348Control 7.98kgs 0.257

Lambs supplemented with Biocell gained an additional 10.6% overthose receiving pellets only, and improved by nearly 4kgs, or 49.7%, overthose on grass alone. Of 200 lambs finished by the end of September,only 20% were drawn from the control group on grass alone. Trials continue, to measure the additional gain and potential health benefits ofintroducing the yeast pre-weaning.

For further information please contact Alec Ross on 07718 905625 /01776 810228 Biocell Agri Limited. Peter Gillard (Director) 07971023637 / 01885 410336 Email: biocellagri@btinternet.com or visit thewebsite: www.biocellagri.com

Biocell Advertorial

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“Partners4Farmes.com was borneout of our experiences in the office at4Xtrahands.com” according to Mary.

“It became impossible to drawNigel off the phone when he haddriven into town to do accounts!”

Nigel agrees, “Mary soon noticedthat when she was taking calls for therecruitment side of 4Xtrahands.com,the customers often dragged out theconversations for as long as possible.”

“Yes, it soon became apparent thatfor some of the guys out there, I wasthe only other person they had spoken to all week outside the farm,and shock horror, a woman!”

A shame but true, our smallercommunities offer little in the way oftalent once you get to a certain pointin life and this was very much inMary and Nigel’s thoughts at the creation of Partners4Farmers.com.

“By the time you’re middle aged,you’re fully acquainted with most ofthe locals and your wild YoungFarmer days are well behind you,you’re really stuck for choice.”

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According to Mary, the responsefrom those who have been onto thewebsite already has been fantastic,with quite a few weddings andnumerous babies! “We really do caterfor all tastes on the website, withboth men and women successfullyfinding The One online.”

It seems that the internet really isbringing The World together or ourlocal communities at least. “I was inthe office last week, speaking to acustomer named Lizzie who admittedthat had it not been forPartners4Farmers.com she wouldnever have met her husband andwould not have a very successful contractor business to their name.”

As has been reported by thenational press, the recession and credit crunch have meant that ‘In isthe new Out’ on a Friday andSaturday night. This has led to anincrease in use of online dating services like the one offered byPartners4Farmers.com.

According to Mary “when we sawthe statistics we spoke about changesto the website and both agreed aboutwhere we both liked to socialise andmeet people, and how we could incorporate that into the datingagency.”

Now with a fully revitalised website Partners4Farmers.com offerschat rooms where, like the pub, youcan sit and talk to like minded folk ormore importantly not. After a quickplay the facilities such as chat are easyto use as are putting your photosonline and searching for the kind ofpeople you like. In terms of a product, necessity really has been themother of invention in this case andthe tried and tested hands of4Xtrahands.com have come up with agood product.

Love is inthe Air

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 17

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EDUCATIONfarmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

GrasslandDevelopment

SAChave commenceda project, sponsored by

QMS to help beef and sheep farmersmake better use of grass and forage.Two “Grassland Development Farms”have been established. These farmswill provide the focus for the projectand will host 3-4 meetings a year. Agroup of interested farmers will discuss issues relating to grass andforage management on the host farmbut also in relation to what they doon their own farms. Specialists fromSAC will also visit each farm regularlyduring the grazing season to monitorwhat is happening in terms of stocking rates, grazing programme etc.

The farmsThe two farms are in different

areas of Scotland so the project isaccessible to a wider range of participants. One farm is in Fife,near Cupar and the other is in UpperNithsdale, near Sanquhar inDumfriesshire.

Hilltarvit Mains is a 1400 acremixed farm just South of Cupar,farmed by the Whiteford family.Around 1000 acres of arable crops aregrown in addition to the 400 acres ofgrass. Stocking is made up of 100autumn calving Simmental X Anguscows producing finished cattle at 20months and 50 spring calving cowsproducing store cattle. A sheep flockof 500 Mules are put to Suffolk andTexel rams, lambing in March withreplacements bought in as gimmers. Aclean grazing system has been in operation for 20 years.

Doug and Lorna Greenshieldsfarm, South Mains, a 1600 acreupland farm in Nithsdale. There are600 acres of rough grazing with theremainder being permanent pasture.Stocking comprises of 600 Blackfacedewes along with a flock of 700 homebred Mules, which are all put toTerminal Sire rams. There are also190 Stabiliser suckler cows, calving inspring producing breeding heifers andstore cattle.

First meetingsThe first meeting at South Mains

was held on 2nd July. The projectwas introduced by Peter Beattie fromQMS and Rhidian Jones, SAC Beefand Sheep specialist who is co-ordinating the project and facilitating the South Mains group.

Doug Greenshields gave an outlineof the farm and the enterprises. Thegroup then moved out to see sheepgrazing where Dr John Vipond led thediscussion. Finally the group spentone and a half hours discussing therotational grazing system that Doughas implemented this year for thefirst time for store cattle. This is ben-eficial in terms of grass utilisation,maintaining grass quality for longer inthe season and optimising cattlegrowth rates.

On 7th July the second meetingwas held at Hilltarvit, facilitated byDr John Vipond, SAC Senior Sheepspecialist. He introduced the projectbefore John Whiteford outlined thefarm and the enterprises. The firststop was with the autumn calvingcows and calves. The main topic ofdiscussion here was the benefits andmethods of reseeding as the field wasdeemed past its best. The group thenspent some time looking at sheepgrazing fields. John explained that bykeeping pastures under control inspring it maintains good grass quality.If the sward “gets away” from thestock there will be dead material inthe base which is poorer quality.Finally the group retired back to thesteading where the discussionfocussed on winter feeding policy.

Theme 3 Conservation and feeding of forage

Conservation aspects* Planning forage requirement for

cattle and sheep.* Producing a year round grazing

plan for grass, forage crops, aftermaths, silage, bought in feed

* Setting up pastures for conservation

* Rolling, dung contamination, age of sward, target date and D value assessment

* Accurate costing of dry matter costs in £/kg for first cut, second cut and aftermath grazing

* Grass versus silage costs.* Forage crops - costs of dry matter.

Feeding aspects* Return on feeding different classes

of stock* Wintering costs per cow and ewe. * Outwintering options * Deferred grazing.* Forage analysis

Theme 4Clover versus nitrogen

* Red clover in arable rotations* How much N does White Clover

contribute* Oversowing clover, what type of

White Clover?* Use of urea nitrogen on oversown

clover areas

The project has got off to a greatstart with two interesting and wellattended meetings in excellent weather. The next meeting at SouthMains is on Thursday 10thSeptember and another meeting willbe held in the autumn at Hilltarvitonce the arable work is complete. Ifyou are interested in attending thesemeetings and improving your knowledge of grassland managementand utilisation please contact RhidianJones at SAC Dumfries on 01387261 172, mobile 0791 969 1841.Alternatively by emailRhidian.Jones@sac.co.uk

The following themes have beenidentified for the project and willreceive attention in future meetings.

Theme 1 Identifying the need for reseeding

Soils aspects * Soils: classification, compactions

and drainage problems. * Options for aeration* How to soil sample * Use of information, pH guide.* P & K indices, use of fertilisers,

recommendations for grassland & silage

Grasses aspects* Sward composition* Weed and grass identification* Estimating Dry Matter yields

Establishment methods* Plough, cultivate, reseed.* Slot seeding, Aitchison drill* Oversowing

When, Where, How

Costs and returns exercise* Value of reseeding and nitrogen

sensitivity* Value of getting clover

establishment* Alternatives to a full reseed

Grass varieties and mixes* For permanent/rotational/fertility

building* Additions to grass clover mixes,

plantain, chicory* When and where to use red and

white clover

Management of reseeds* Cut v graze in year 1* Options if no sheep available* Fertiliser maintenance

Theme 2Planning a grazing programme

* Planning a clean grazing rotation* How to set initial stocking rates

(at turnout).* Supply and demand curves,* Requirements for conservation* Monitoring the feed wedge:* Sward heights* Using a plate meter* Rules of thumb for getting sward

height back on track* Rotational Grazing in summer* Nitrogen usage and stocking rate –

when to apply and how much.* Weed control.

byRhidian Jones

SAC

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:40 pm Page 18

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June 1965 was perhaps the mostfamous and gave William Heughanparticular pleasure. Other donationsare to numerous to mention, sufficeto say that The MacRobert Trustremains committed to farming and tothe support of agriculture generally.The establishment of The MacRobertTrust Farming Scholarship Award byTrustees in March 2009 with a donation of £30,000 over three yearsfrom 2010 is but the latestmanifestation of this commitment.Administration of the Scholarship,including selection of the candidates,will be conducted by the NuffieldFarming Scholarship Trust.

This is a wonderful opportunity forScottish candidates wishing to applyfor a Nuffield Scholarship. If youhave a vision or topic you would liketo investigate on a global basis checkout the Nuffield website and apply –www.nuffieldscholar.org

Applications close on the 15November, so get your thinking capson and take what could be an opportunity of a lifetime!

“The Trustees of theMacRobert Trust aredelighted to announce The

MacRobert Trust Farming ScholarshipAward to run for three years from2010. This award recognises TheTrust's long-standing commitment toagriculture and the desire of theTrustees to ensure that excellence andinnovation continue to be hallmarks ofScottish farming,” said the TrustAdministrator.

Farming has been a core interest ofthe Douneside Estate since the early1900s. The world famous pedigreeherds of Friesan (founded 1917) andAberdeen Angus (founded in 1932)and the Highland Fold established theDouneside Estate and later theMacRobert Farms (Douneside) Ltd,formed by William Heughan, as a centre of farming excellence

Donations by The Trust to farminghave been long-standing and widespread. A gift of £85,000towards the construction of theMacRobert Centre at the RoyalHighland & Agricultural Society's permanent showground, opened in

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EDUCATION farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:41 pm Page 19

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farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

WORLD MARKETS

Dust bowl to renewable energyproduction in one lifetime –that's the latest story from the

Texas panhandle on the High Plains ofthe United States. A wind farmingboom in West Texas is turning the settler's curse, almost constant wind,into an asset requiring almost noeffort on behalf of the land owner.

For the loss of 2-3% land to production like cropping or livestockgrazing, farmers near Amarillo areearning US$5000-plus per turbine peryear. Charlie Brown told me theeight turbines on 130ha that his family owned would add at least 20%annually to arable income. The1.25KW Suzlon turbines were erectedby John Deere, the giant farmmachinery multinational now anemerging player in wind energy.John Deere put the $2 million-eachmachines on Brown's land with a contract covering short term disruption, for road construction,underground lines and tower erection,and long term earnings based on actual generation performance.In one of the windiest places onearth, Brown and John Deere expect300-plus days a year with wind runfrom 12 to 15 mph, which is the optimum for those turbines.

The Brown family is free to continue no-till cropping under thewind farm – indeed the towers havebeen placed so that the centre-pivotirrigators still draw their watery circles without impact.

The lucrative nature of this windpower boom for land owners is illustrated by Brown's neighbour, whois landlord to 53 turbines of 1.5 MWeach, at a total cost over US$100 million, all erected in the phenomenaltime of eight months during 2008.

At that time, late in 2008, the promoters Babcock & Brown, anAustralian-based merchant bank nowin voluntary administration, claimed

their Majestic 79.5 MW wind farmwas only a forerunner to 1000 MW ofinstalled capacity it planned in thepanhandle. Texas now produces 9000MW of America's 25,000 MW generated from wind, and is the leading wind power state.

But as the phrase “voluntaryadministration” might indicate, noteverything is coming up roses in thewind farms of West Texas. Firstly,there is the environmental impact ofthe turbines themselves. Not everyone loves a turbine on their horizon, or perhaps next door.Texan judges have already ruled thatvisual impact is insufficient reason todecline an application to build, soopponents are turning to supposednoise and radiation effects on health.But few laws impinge on a Texan'sright to do what he likes with hisland. Outside of the city limits andany zoning restrictions, pretty muchanything goes.

Bob Josserand, the 80-year-oldMayor of Hereford, which calls itselfthe “Beef Capital of the World”, hasseen five economic waves wash overDeaf Smith County, West Texas, inthe time he has been a resident. Oldenough to have experienced the DustBowl Depression of the 1903s, Bobwas born and raised in Kansas andmoved to West Texas in 1971, at theheight of the beef feedlot construction boom. He remains theowner of a 50,000-head lot in thecounty, which has the greatest concentration of feed lots in theworld. With 40 miles of Herefordthere are one million head of cattle atany one time, and 2.5 million headfinished to slaughter annually.

When he moved into the district in1971 sugar beet was the largest crop,but the sugar refinery soon closed.Following that, because of the abundant grain, the feed-lottingindustry relocated to West Texas from

California, Arizona and Montana, Bobsaid. “Then five years ago DeafSmith County wasn't even on themap of Texas dairying, now we arenumber two or three in the state,” hesaid.

Bob said that the rapid development of dairy farming had“ruined the labour cost on feedyards.” Yet right now dairy farmerswith no debt and only feed cost andlabour to pay, were losing US$3/100lbs of milk (about 4.5p/litre).Recently he and several other wealthyresidents subscribed for $10,000shares in the White Energy ethanolplant, the first ethanol producer inTexas, which generates huge tonnagesof distillers grains for cattle feed.The feedstock for White Energy is80% maize and 20% grain sorghum,both of which grow in abundanceunder irrigation in the Texas panhandle. But White Energy inHereford didn't come on line until2008, by which time maize prices hadsoared and ethanol prices fallen. InMarch it filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy protection, has closed oneof its plants and continues to operatetwo others, including Hereford. Butthe shareholders' capital has gone.

Another $250 million ethanolplant, being built by Panda Ethanol toutilise heat from composting cowmanure from the surrounding feed-lots, was never completed beforegoing broke.

Fortunately the Texas panhandle isone of the continuously windy regionsin the world, which has brought largenumbers of wind turbines in the pasttwo years.

Yet one of the largest promoters,the Australian-based Babcock &Brown, has already exited, leaving itswind farms to a Californian lawyerand farmer turned wind energy developer, Glen Hodges.

Bob Josserand described DeafSmith's 17,000 inhabitants as proudlyblue collar workers who could turntheir hands to anything which camealong. And if the recent history ofWest Texas is a guide, something newwill come along shortly.

World Markets

Hugh Stringleman

57 MAG 27/8/09 2:41 pm Page 20

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Cattle and SheepBreeding programmes carefullyset upand stock selected andmonitored to a high standard.For further details contact theStockman on 07967677667

or visit our websitewww.thestockman.me.uk

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IN the middle of the intensive dairy-ing area of the Amuri Plains in NorthCanterbury Gregor Mackenzie isfarming differently to most.On the 316ha farm, which is now justabout fully irrigated, he says he is yetto realise the full potential of his cat-tle fattening and cropping operation.Gregor comes from a family farm onthe fertile coastal plain north ofInverness in Scotland, where hisbrother is still on the home farm. Dueto its high latitude it has a muchshorter growing season than NewZealand. They grew mainly cerealsand it is a good area for seed potatoes.He first came to New Zealand in1977 for a one-year diploma atLincoln and really liked it. ìI remem-ber thinking I would have loved tohave been brought up here.îHe could have stayed longer atLincoln, but his passion was rugby andhe was keen to get back to Scotlandto further a playing career whicheventually took him to the top level asa Scottish international. Further trips to New Zealand fol-lowed, including the 1987 RugbyWorld Cup as a spectator, and again in1991. He came for a more seriouslook with the intention emigrating in

1993 and again in 1994, and he andwife Liz finally arrived in November1995.They unsuccessfully searched for afarm in the foothills of Mid-Canterbury, looking for a property forcattle and cropping and some dairysupply. However they eventually set-tled on the current farm nearCulverden.ìThis was easily the best farm we saw.We had the option of some water, andit had very good soils.îIt has good mix of lighter and heaviersoils, and when they came 70ha wasborderdyked and 50ha was spray irri-gated. However, the whole middlepart of the farm with the best soilswas not irrigated. With consent to take water out of twoof the streams that run across theproperty that middle part of the farmis now irrigated by centre pivot.ìI think all the capital works are donenow, and even though the debt ismounting because of the develop-ment, when we get into full produc-tion we should be OK.îThese days over 100ha of crop isgrown on the farm. This year he isgrowing biscuit wheat on contract andfeed wheat for the free market, as

well as barley and peas.A lot of the spring barley will be forsilage and it will be undersown withshort rotation ryegrass and red andwhite clover which will last as pasturefor about four years. ìItís worked wellwith us because it saves extra workafter we take the crop off, and itís upand running straight away.îLast season free market cereals, whichhave sold well in the past, were diffi-cult to sell, and so a lot was made intosilage. This put pressure on cash flow.However, Gregor says he has about700 rising two-year-old cattle to sellin the next few months which shouldbring some relief. After these cattle are gone he will belooking for more 15-month-old cattleto fatten through the winter. Nocalves were bought this year becausethey were too expensive. He intentionally does not have anybreeding stock on the farm.While most of the cattle are soldthrough Canterbury Meat packers, acontract with Silver Fern Farms for160 steers is particularly pleasing hesays, and it will pay him to feed themwell. If he takes them to 370kg cw theywill fetch $4.52 a kg. ìThe SFF con-tract was a breath of fresh air when itcame out in March or April. Weívehad to use a lot of high value silageand swedes, but we are going to getrecompense for it.îAn average of $4 a kg over the wholecattle operation would be good result.ìIf we can do over $4.20 I will be veryhappy.îHe says the animals are in a good for-ward condition this year.Replacing stock is the critical part ofthe operation. ìIf you pay too muchyou just donít have the margin capa-bility at the end.îMany of the cattle are only on thefarm for six or seven months, but irri-gation has meant that there always abank of feed available. Summerturnips is another feed option beingused.

Being in the middle of a dairying areahas meant that selling cereal silageand feed grain has been a good optionin the past. However with dairy farm-ers restricting spending the past cou-ple of years have not been so good.They have grazed dairy cows eachwinter, although far less now than inthe past.Has he been tempted to turn it into adairy farm? ìWeíve looked into it. Itísstill a potential dairy farm, itís got therange of soils you would want.ìBut itís too good a farm for dairying.It would spoil it. Weíre not making asmuch money as them, but we cherishthe lifestyle.îLiz works part time at WaikariHospital about 15 to 20 minutes driveaway, while daughter Kirsty, 15, is atGirls High School in Christchurchand son Ruaridh 13, is at Boys High.Another daughter Mairi, 10, is still athome.Gregor is chairman of the PahauEnhancement Group, which has madebig strides in minimising nutrient runoff into Pahau and Hurunui riversfrom the intensive farming of theAmuri Basin.The four streams running through thefarm are now fenced off and awaitingriparian planting. Importantly they arerunning clear and fish stocks are good.ìItís a very nice farm now and weívegot water. All the water is on the sur-face from the Amuri IrrigationCompany, so weíre very fortunate,îGregor says.

FEATURE

Ex-Scottish rugbyplayer – GregorMacKenzie – nowfarms on theCanterbury Plains,New Zealand,writes HowardKeane of NZ RuralPress, StraightFurrow.

farmingscotland.comIssue fifty-seven • September 2009

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September Sales AT MILLHALL AUCTION MART, MILLHALL, STIRLING Tel: 01786 450922

oTuesday 1st Sale of Prime Lambs, Cast Ewes and RamsoThursday 3rd Sale of Prime Cattle and OTM StockoFriday 4th “The PREMIER” Show and Sale of Single

Suckled CalvesoSaturday 5th Show and Sale of Suckled CalvesoMonday 7th Sale of Store Cattle and Sale of Store SheepoTuesday 8th Sale of Prime Lambs, Cast Ewes and RamsoThursday 9th Sale of Prime Cattle and OTM StockoMonday 14th Sale of Store Sheep, Mule Cont EweLambsoTuesday 15th Sale of Prime Lambs, Cast Ewes and RamsoWednesday 16th Show and Sale of all classes of Breeding

Rams, Breeding Ewes and GimmersoThursday 17th Sale of Prime Cattle and OTM StockoMonday 21st Sale of Store Cattle & Sale of Store SheepoTuesday 22nd Sale of Prime Lambs ,Cast Ewes and RamsoThursday 24th Sale of Prime Cattle and OTM StockoFriday 25th Annual Sale of BF Ewes and Gimmers, BF

and Swaledale RamsoMonday 28th Sale of Store SheepoTuesday 29th Sale of Prime Lambs, Cast Ewes and Rams

September Sales at OBAN LIVSTOCK CENTRE,UPPER SOROBA, OBAN Tel: 01631 570631

oTuesday 1st Special sale of Blackface Ewe Lambs and all classes of Store Sheep

oTuesday 8th Sale of all classes of Store and FeedingSheep

oFriday 11th Show and Sale of Suckled Calves, Store and Breeding Cattle

oTuesday 15thSpecial Sale of all classes of Store andFeeding Sheep

oTuesday 22ndGreat Annual sale of Warranted Ewes, Gimmers and Store Lambs

oTuesday 29th Sale of all classes of Store and Feeding Sheep

CALEDONIAN MARTS (STIRLING )LTD, Millhall Auction Mart, Millhall, STIRLING FK7 7LSWebsite: WWW.CALEDONIAN-MARTS.COM

Store Cattle JOHN KYLE 07713 342512Store Sheep Alastair Logan 07713 342514Prime Cattle JIM DUNN 07713 3452511Prime Sheep Alastair Brown 07713 342513OTM Stock SANDY MOORE 07717 435245 Cast Sheep Helen Rickard 07717 435246

For Further Details of any of the sales contact:

fertilizer prices at their current level,returns can be as high as 11:1.Improvements in nitrogen levels havebeen proven in recent trials undertaken at Myerscough College –the results can be seen at: www.envirosystems.co.uk

In most cases the manual application of SlurryBugs for tanksand channels suits farms with up to150 cows; and the automatic dispenser is ideal for farms with over150 cows (the system is fitted ontothe lagoon and fully maintained byEnviroSystems). SlurryBugs enzymesdegrade the undigested fibre thatcauses crusting; achieving more liquefied slurry with less odour. Testshave shown that SlurryBugs andBooster can save £25,000 per annumin ammonium nitrate fertiliser costs.

SlurryBugs is a combination ofspecific bacilli, which flourish inthe harsh environment of slurry

lagoons. The specific strains of bacteria in this inoculant metaboliseammonia into organic forms of nitrogen, which are then fixed andmore available for plant uptake.Typically, Nitrogen is lost during storageand spreading, but this combined system effectively retains Nitrogen.

By adding the Micro-nutrient packSlurryBooster alongside SlurryBugs,the bacteriological growth and theirenzyme production can be increasedby up to 8 times; enabling more ureato be converted into ammonia, andthen organic Nitrogen. Testing hasshown that after 30 days nitrogen levels can raise from the usual 12-14mg/litre to 42+ mg/litre; and with

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