Monitor Farm Scotland works with many agricultural suppliers and advisers over a range of areas, with grassland and forage often at the heart of discussions. Watson Seeds has had a long-standing involvement with past Monitor Farms and this continues with three of the current farms, Strathspey; Argyll and Dumfries. Euan Campbell, Watson Seed’s specialist explains the aims of new forage and grass mixes on the three farms.

with Elaine McKilligan, McKilligan Financial

DRIVING YOUR BUSINESS, STEERING YOUR DECISIONS

The Deeside Monitor Farm Management Group wants to look more into the foundations of a successful, expanding Scottish livestock business.

They’ve identified 4 main areas to investigate more:

•Accounts
•Banking and Financial Advice
•Legal
•Succession

ACCOUNTING

The first of the series of discussions was led by Elaine McKilligan, Chartered Accountant and business owner of McKilligan Financial Ltd. Read the report below.

ON TOUR, SHOWING ON:

February 12th 2025, at UA, Stirling – Book HERE

February 26th 2025, at the Buccleuch Arms, St Boswells – Book HERE

SUCCESSION
It can be easy to avoid potentially difficult discussions on family farm succession, to
be unaware of legal rights surrounding farming and family and not understand the
complexities of finance and tax planning.
Watching others wrestle with the issues based on real experiences across the country can be the first step in your own family journey…..

Read the report of the Monitor Farm Scotland Production, Starring:
Johnstone Carmichael, Virgin Money and Shepherd & Wedderburn

Pneumonia in winter livestock is painful, both emotionally and financially. ​

The Strathspey Monitor Farm Vet Special Event in November 2024 featured Monitor Farmer Malcolm Smith, SRUC’s Franz Brulisauer, MSD’s Sara Robson and Strathspey Vet’s Jane Harley.​

This Monitor Farm Special Report:​

• Explains the various causes of pneumonia​
• Discusses vet testing and ​
• Encourages preventative management

Read the Meeting Report here.

The performance commences at 6pm at United Auctions, Stirling on Wednesday 12 February 2025.

Succeed at Succession. A classic, smash hit, rural play of the 2000s on Succession Planning is brought bang up to date by Monitor Farm Scotland. The sticky, family issues of legal rights, tax law and accountancy are on display through classic acting performances around the kitchen table from Johnston Carmichael, Virgin Money, and Shepherd & Wedderburn.

Argyllshire Winter Meeting Report – 5 November 2024

35 members of the farming community attended the meeting, and we welcome a few new faces too which was great to see! This meeting was requested by the farming community on Islay and covered:

• What to expect from a Scottish Government RPID Inspection.
• Quality Meat Scotland Farm Assessment.
• How to do your own farm carbon audit.
• How to update your farm carbon audit.

Cattle and Sheep Nutrition Workshop – Stirlingshire Monitor Farm

The Stirling Monitor Farm Management Group members had the chance to attend a Cattle and Sheep Nutrition Workshop in August. Led by Ruminant Nutritionist Lorna Shaw of SAC Consulting, the group had full day of learning about:

• Forage analysis and quality.
• Estimating Dry Matter and intake.
• Stock requirements.
• Minerals.

Watch the video to find out why farmers get involved and how they benefit from the Monitor Farm programme.

A ‘Sheep Special’ meeting was held with the group on 27 August 2024. Our guest speakers were SAC Ruminant Nutritionist, Lorna Shaw and Vet, Beth Newman. Lorna had spent the day previous helping at lamb weaning and discussing a practical sheep strategy for the Argyllshire Monitor farm.

Islay vet Beth discussed the value of Tup MOT’s and demonstrated how these should be carried out and what to look for.

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)