Our guest speakers Robert Gilchrist (Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society), Alex Pirie (SAC) and Lynsey Melville (Mordeun) share their key take home messages from the Stirlingshire Summer 2024 meeting ‘Increasing the Sustainability of Your Livestock Farm’.

With help from a variety of speakers and with SAC forecasts for his enterprise, Duncan Morrison, the Deeside Monitor Farmer answered his question, ‘Is finishing bulls at grass better or worse financially than finishing intensively?’

Finishing beef bulls at grass cuts costs ​

Duncan and Claire Morrison finish their mainly Stabiliser beef bulls at grass. The Summer 24 Open meeting shows how good grass management, supplementary feed and hitting the target at the abattoir are critical to profit. ​

-high feed prices can make indoor finishing expensive. ​

-Ingliston’s breeding bulls do well off grass and are at a good weight by 16 months. ​

-outdoor finishing has cut variable costs from £712/head to an estimated £377/head.​

-estimated margins are £466 compared with £214/head, an additional return of £252/head​

-key is rotational paddock grazing, moving every 2-3 days​

-Duncan uses Farmax grazing software to plan rotations. ​

-swards must be high quality with good ME (12.7 MJ/kg at Ingliston in May​

-sward protein is boosted by red and white clover (27% in May)​

Duncan commented “I am really pleased with how this has gone, and the weight gain so far has been very good, so I am cautiously optimistic. But I would caveat this by adding that we are not finished yet and will need to see how they grade.” ​

 Cattle Management

Detailed costings (by Kirsten Williams, SAC)

While it can be a difficult and lengthy process, tackling lameness will have a positive impact on flock performance, and weaning is the ideal time to make a start. That is according to Marion McMillan, a vet with SRUC. She is also a member of the Management Group of the South Ayrshire Monitor Farm, and will be playing a key part in discussions and practical work in the flock at Rowanston.

Net Zero ‘marathon’ needs best science and accurate data

Farmers at June’s Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm meeting heard that net zero was ‘a marathon and not a sprint’, and that farming needed to insist on the best science, with accurate, precise data on individual farms in order to choose the right options and to defend itself.

Key speaker Professor John Gilliland, who owns a farm as well as being a special adviser to QMS and AHDB on net zero, discussed his experience of working practically on the subject with a group of Northern Irish farms in a government-funded project. “The first thing on our journey was that everyone understood that next zero meant the sum of your emissions, minus the sum of your sequestration. It is adjusted for any fossil fuel CO₂ emissions displaced by renewables and for any methane emissions reduced by waste management. It is not zero emissions.

“And while I can talk about carbon, water quality, biodiversity and so on, profit is important, and we also need to produce good quality food to deliver good human health.”

His research so far showed that no two farms were the same, and that ‘some would find the journey easier than others’.

Choosing the right ‘tools’ for an individual farm was important. While new approaches to reducing emissions such as feed additives and green fertiliser were available, they came at ‘huge cost’, he warned. “Look at the things you can do which will drive profit and reduce emissions.”

These options were often round productivity, such as improving breeding, health and genetics. Irish work on lime showed that in some soils, achieving a pH of 6-6.5 boosted fertiliser utilisation, and he acknowledged this was an area of science which needed to be addressed in RB209 recommendations. “This is under review, but I want it to be updated and have asked that the AHDB look at the Irish science.”

Other areas the farms looked at included grazing willows, which gave double the benefit as grazing leaves reduced cattle methane emissions, and creating a field run-off risk map using the laser-generated field map and phosphate soil surveys. Multispecies pastures which provided a variety of rooting depths helped with water mitigation, reduced fertiliser use, and boosted earthworm numbers by 300%, he said. 

He welcomed the new AHDB/QMS carbon baselining project, and urged farmers to apply. “The key thing is to measure and manage, but we need more sophistication to the measurement. We can reduce emissions, increase carbon in our soils and increase biodiversity – and we can stay profitable if we get the knowledge about how to do it.’

Around 30 members of the farming community attended the Summer 2024 meeting on the 25 July.

Our guest was farmer, grass specialist and host of the Pasture Pod, Michael Blanche.

We were pleased to welcome Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, to the Argyll Monitor Farm on Islay on Wednesday! Hosted by Craig and Petra Archibald, the event offered valuable updates on the Monitor Farm Programme and the unique aspects of farming on Islay.

Key agenda highlights included updates on the Argyll Monitor Farm project, discussions on wildlife management support, and the important role of ferry connections for island farming. Attendees also participated in a farm walk, which showcased Aberdeen Angus suckler cows on newly established rotational grazing systems and explored diversified farm businesses like the Oyster Shed café, which features the farm’s home-reared beef, lamb, and oysters.

The event was joined by Jenni Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and MSP for Argyll and Bute, along with members of the Islay Monitor Farm Steering Group and local farmers and community members.

L-R Jenni Minto MSP, Jim Fairlie MSP, Craig Archibald, Tony Archibald.

L-R Stuart Lamont Farmer, Scott McLellan-Farmer, Neil McLellan-Farmer, Beth Newman-Vet/Farmer, Christine Cuthbertson-Monitor Farm, Jenni Minto MSP, Jim Fairlie MSP, Garry MacLean-NFU Scotland, Craig Archibald-Farmer, Tony Archibald-Farmer, Ross Dunsmore-Scottish Government, Morven Laurie-NatureScot.

Farmers from across Scotland this week came to hear how Deeside Monitor Farmers Duncan and Claire Morrison are finishing their mainly Stabiliser beef bulls at grass in a ground-breaking trial at Upper Ingliston farm near Inverurie.

Visitors at the Monitor Farm summer open meeting heard how last year’s high feed prices had made Duncan and Claire consider whether there was a more cost-effective option than intensive finishing indoors.

Duncan said: “We got the idea from our experience with our breeding bulls, which we bring to sale off grass. They do really well, and the few which don’t make breeding spec have finished at a good weight and before the 16-month deadline.”

Key to his system is rotational paddock grazing on high quality grass – analysis in May showed it had a metabolisable energy (ME) of 12.7MJ/kg DM and 27.1% protein. The swards they feed on are mainly ryegrass with red and white clover and a small amount of plantain and chicory. Bulls were split into two groups at turnout in April; those more than 350kg and those weighing less than that. They move paddocks every two days or so.

Duncan continued: “We started feeding a little concentrate in February, about 1kg/head, and have continued this in the field, using an all-terrain (ATV) and snacker. We’re just moving from feeding a roll to introducing some barley as the higher starch will help them finish.”

Average daily liveweight gain at grass has exceeded 2kg/day for most of the bulls, said Kirsten Williams, senior sheep and beef consultant with SAC. She has costed the system using fair assumptions, and while output/head may be slightly less due to potentially lower finishing weights, variable costs look set to fall from £712/head to £387/head. This gives a speculative gross margin of £466/head from finishing these bulls at grass compared with last year’s margin of £214/head finishing intensively inside; a £252/head additional return at grass.  

However, both Kirsten and Duncan are keen to wait until the bulls have been finished and slaughtered before coming to a final conclusion. Kirsten cautioned that the killing out percentage may be less off grass. Kirsten said: “We have done some sensitivity analysis looking at 50% killing out versus 54%, and even so, it still leaves a better gross margin – £347/head – compared to last year’s intensive system.”

Duncan is a keen user of Farmax grazing software, using it to plan grazing rotations, as well as being able to assess different scenarios. Its use helped give confidence that they had enough quality pasture to finish bulls at grass, and so could also run steers at grass if processor requirements change in future.

He added: “I am really pleased with how this project has gone, and the weight gain so far has been very good, so I am cautiously optimistic. But I would caveat this by adding that we are not finished yet, and will need to see how they grade.” A trial update will be provided once the cattle are processed and final costs and prices are known.

Other speakers at the event included Gregor Welsh from SoilEssentials, talking about the SKAi precision spot-spraying system, which may help Duncan and Claire tackle docks while protecting mixed species swards and reducing spray costs and time. Lanarkshire farmer Michael Shannon discussed how he finishes all his cattle off grass and forage crops, plus how he markets his livestock. 

Jill Hunter, beef and sheep nutritionist for Harbro, covered how finishing cattle can be managed at grass and how best to transition onto feed, and Highland Meats buyer Stuart Annand explained what he looks for in finishing cattle, and how farmers can optimise the price they receive.  

Peter Beattie, Monitor Farm regional adviser, said: “It was great to see almost 100 farmers from across Scotland come to hear about Duncan and Claire’s bull beef project and its impact on costs. Our other speakers all fed into this focus on making the most of forage and the ability to make greater use of it for finishing.

“Our thanks to Duncan and Claire for opening their farm gates and all of those involved in making the event a success – including the well-received Scotch beef burgers from the local Louise’s Farm Kitchen. 

The Thrill of Blair Hill!

Around 45 members of the farming community heard from amazing guest speakers, David Whiteford of Maxwelston Farm, Bob Bain of Soil Essentials and Gavin Stewart and Rory Clark Kennedy of Agrii, as well as the brilliant Andrew family who spoke about where they are and where they want to be.

Increasing the Sustainability of your Livestock Farm

Around 40 members of the farming community attended the summer meeting at Lands of Drumhead to hear from guest speakers, Robert Gilchrist, Alex Pirie, and the Moredun Team – Stewart Burgess, Mara Rocchi, Lynsey Melville, and Eilidh Geddes, as well as the brilliant Duncan Family for being such welcoming and open Monitor Farmers.

Specialist Advice Report – Recommendations & Actions​

Review of control of parasites in cattle and sheep