The next Nithsdale Monitor farm meeting on Thursday 19 July will focus on how technology can be used to increase efficiency on livestock farms.

Andrew and Aileen Marchant, who farm at Clonhie Farm, Penpont near Lockerbie, run 900 breeding ewes, a small herd of 20 Luing cattle and have recently invested in 100 deer hinds on their 300-hectare upland tenanted farm.

Like many other farm businesses across Scotland, the Marchants rely almost entirely on family labour, so are keen to see how technology can help save time and money.

“With Aileen working off farm I largely work on my own day to day, so need to look at ideas to help cut labour and make my life as easy as possible,” said Andrew Marchant.

“With nearly 1,000 sheep to manage, we decided to invest in a sheep handling system with auto-shedder in May 2017, and although it was a fairly expensive piece of kit, we have already seen clear benefits of using the system.”

The meeting next week will include a demonstration of the system at Clonhie which not only allows the Marchants to weigh their lambs regularly and monitor their growth rates using Shearwell Data software but has an automatic dosing gun element which is linked to the weigh crate. This ensures that every lamb is dosed with the correct amount of anthelmintic based on its weight – which saves money on drenches and reduces the potential development of anthelmintic resistance.

The use of drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs) has increased in popularity in agriculture in recent years. The devices can be fitted with cameras and sensors to help farmers check the health of their crops and soil, as well as track livestock and survey farmland.

At the meeting on 19 July, David Owen of Owen Farm Services, part of the 5Agri Group, will be looking at the use of drones on livestock farms, focussing on what is currently available in terms of assessing fields from above for poor yielding areas or soil compaction. He will also highlight potential future uses for drones.

Also at the meeting, Rhidian Jones of RJ Livestock Systems will be looking at grassland management technology, grass measuring devices and electric fencing. In addition, he will lead a discussion on the options farmers have for managing the current drought and ensuring there are sufficient feed supplies for the coming winter

“The weather extremes experienced across Scotland this year have resulted in severe challenges for livestock farmers, said Mr Jones.

“There are however some things that farmers can do though to preserve the grass that they have, and plan for the winter months.”

The benefits of social media will also be highlighted by Aileen Marchant, who works as a teacher at Wallacehall Academy at Thornhill when not working with husband Andrew on the farm. She is keen to encourage farmers to connect with the public about what they do, either through social media, or by holding open days or hosting school visits. At the meeting she will give a short presentation about how farmers, and the Scottish livestock industry as a whole,  can benefit from talking the time to engage with the general public about farming. 

Clonhie farm is now approaching the half way point of the three-year monitor farm programme, and to celebrate, Andrew and Aileen have kindly invited those who attend the meeting on 19 July to a Scotch Lamb spit roast after the meeting ends. It will also give the attendees an opportunity to taste some delicious Clonhie Scotch Lamb!

“We have really enjoyed being part of the monitor farm programme so far,” said Andrew Marchant.

“It has really made us think a lot more about our business and the changes we, and other farmers, can make to the way we do things to make our enterprise more profitable and sustainable.”

“We have a great management group who has supported us in our journey but realise that livestock farmers everywhere can benefit from the monitor farm programme. We are therefore really keen to hear from the farmers who come along to our meetings to help drive the programme and suggest subjects for future meetings that will benefit them.”

The Nithsdale monitor farm is one of nine monitor farms that have been established around Scotland in a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds. The aim of the programme, which is funded by Scottish Government, is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting at Clonhie Farm on Thursday 19 July will begin at 4pm with a lamb roast being served at 5.30pm.

To book your place please contact facilitator Judith Hutchison on 07718 919055 or email judith.agridigm@icloud.com.

The importance of benchmarking will be emphasised at the coming Morayshire Monitor Farm meeting on Tuesday 10 July.

Past monitor farmer Steven Sanderson, who farms 330 acres on  Orkney, will join the community group at Corskie Farm to share his experiences after he completed a Nuffield Scholarship on benchmarking in beef farming.

All the Monitor Farm Scotland farms have established business groups where each member enters their business figures into AHDB programme Farmbench which allows them to compare and contrast the results at regular discussion meetings.

Steven got into benchmarking as a way to help him reach previously unreachable management targets.

“I used to go to these meetings where we were told we should be meeting certain targets,” Steven says, “for example 92% weaning in a 9 week breeding period, at the time that for me seemed nigh on impossible.

“So I set out to find out if it was possible, and if so, how the farmers achieving it were doing so, and that’s where benchmarking came in. It’s only through having a clear idea of how you are doing in terms of inputs and outputs, and then comparing that to others, that you can see where changes can be made.”

The group will also hear more about the Beef Monitor system Corskie is currently trialling. The system automatically weighs the cattle every time they go to take a drink, which offers the Green family huge scope to monitor the effectiveness of their breeding and feeding programmes to improve cattle performance.

Monitor farmer Laura Green explains: “It’s a really useful system for measuring daily liveweight gains which we can then trace back to our genetics and use the information to make our system even more efficient.

“It will also flag up if any of the livestock are suffering from poor health before there are any clinical signs, or if we need to make any changes to the ration. I’m really looking forward to seeing the system in practice with our group of just weaned bulls.”

As Corskie Farm hosts a number of Syngenta cereal variety trials, the Morayshire Monitor Farm Open Day will also double as Syngenta’s trial site open day with Iain Lindsay and Katie Murray on hand to discuss how the varieties have been faring this year.

Attendees will be able to see first-hand how both winter and spring barley varieties are coping with the recent hot, dry weather.

“We’ll be looking at the crops to see how they are coping in tough conditions,” Iain explains, “how resilient are they to long periods without rain, how to they manage in the heat and of course no doubt the farmers present will have their own experiences to share about their season also.”

The Morayshire Monitor is one of nine monitor farms established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the monitor farm programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The Monitor Farm meeting will take place on Corskie Farm, Garmouth, IV32 7NN, on Tuesday 10 July from 2pm to 5pm.  The event is free of charge but to assist with catering it would be appreciated if you can book a place by contacting Samantha Stewart by phone (01343 548 787) or email (samantha.stewart@sac.co.uk).

The progress of a family farm near Hawick trying to improve its efficiency and profitability as part of a monitor farm programme will be highlighted during an open day they are hosting on Wednesday 11 July.

Whitriggs Farm near Denholm was announced as a monitor farm in December 2016. Eighteen months later and now half way through the three year programme, it is opening its gates to let anyone with an interest in livestock farming learn more about what they have been doing so far to improve the management of their business.

“The monitor farm programme has given us a whole new enthusiasm for the our business and highlighted lots of opportunities for developing it in the future,” said Lesley Mitchell, who farms in partnership with her husband Robert and son Stuart, with support from Stuart’s brother Alistair in busy periods.

She added: “The support of the management group and community group has given us the confidence to make changes to how we do things, introduce new enterprises and improve existing ones.”

At the event on 11 July, which is free to attend and open to all, the Mitchells will highlight the changes they have made to their business so far and their plans for the next 18 months.

Together with neighbouring Denholm Hill Farm, the Mitchell family own 442 hectares of mainly semi-permanent and permanent grassland and grow approximately 40 hectares of winter wheat and oats for feeding their stock.

The family have 155 suckler cows which are a combination of Beef Shorthorn cross and Aberdeen Angus cross. In the last year, the family successfully introduced sycronisation and AI and have reduced their calving period down to just six weeks.

“We saw clear benefits of the cows calving within six weeks this year,” said Robert Mitchell. “Now we can manage the calves in a single group and the cows all have a clear month after weaning before they get put back to the bull.”

He added: “We also used to finish all our stock on farm but, after taking advice from the management group, decided to sell some of our bullocks as stores in September to free up grass for the remaining stock over the winter. We tried this for the first time last year and have seen a clear financial benefit in doing this.”

Also at the meeting, the Mitchells will give an progress report on the health of the 1,000 Lleyn ewe flock at Whitriggs. After discovering that some of their ewes tested positive for Maedi Visna (MV) last year, the family now manage the flock in two seperate locations in an attempt to keep the disease from spreading. At the meeting next week, Andrew Robinson from Hawick Vet Practice will explain the various MV testing options available to help the family manage the flock in the future.

An important part of the monitor farm programme is the use of farm benchmarking to compare the financial performance of different businesses in order to identify areas for potential improvement. At the event on 11 July, the family will share the results of the benchmarking exercise they recently conducted and explain how they intend to use that information going forward to improve their business.

Over the last year and a half, the Mitchell family at Whitriggs have hosted nine meetings and have welcomed over 50 people to each of their events. The monitor farm has addressed subjects including cattle management, flock health and grazing strategies, all of which have been selected by the management group made up of local farmers.

“We wanted the subjects that we discussed at our meetings to be relevant not just to what we are doing at Whitriggs, but also to others livestock farmers in the area so that everyone could benefit from them,” said Stuart Mitchell.

“We have been delighted in the numbers that have come along to our meetings so far and really hope that the enthusiasm for the monitor farm programme and the journey we are on here at Whitriggs  will continue for the next 18 months.”

Whitriggs farm is one of nine monitor farms established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the monitor farm programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting on 11 July, which will be held at Whitriggs Farm, near Denholm, is due to begin at 2pm and is expected to end at 5pm. Attendees are then invited to stay on for a BBQ.

To book your attendance on 11 July (and place at the BBQ!) please contact Stephen Young, one of the project facilitators, on 07502 339613 or email stephen.young@saos.coop.

Pelvic measuring of heifers will now be a regular activity on Morayshire Monitor Farm after recent try outs found merit in it as a management tool.

Pelvic measuring is a simple process where the height and width of the pelvis are recorded before pregnancy; the data can then be used to improve breeding practices.

Monitor Farmer Iain Green decided to try out pelvic measuring last year and so took measurements from a group of 31 heifers, all put to the same bull. The team then gave each heifer a score for calving ease and also for calf size.

Mr Green said: “Most of the heifers were selected due in part to their reasonably large pelvic measurements, and most of them did very well at calving with only five of the 31 needing any assistance.

“However, there was one heifer in the mix with a particularly small pelvis who I left in because she just looked such a cracker, and unfortunately she was one of just two heifers who needed a caesarean. Her calf was a good size but not that large, the other heifer which had a caesarean had a very large calf.

“For me it proved that pelvic measuring can be a very helpful tool to eliminate those heifers which are more likely to have problems. From now on we will be measuring all the heifers and those with small pelvises will be fattened on farm.”

The Morayshire Monitor farm is one of nine monitor farms established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the Monitor Farm Programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

Vet Mark Pearson from Moray Coast Vet Group, who demonstrated the pelvic measuring procedure at a recent meeting on the Morayshire Monitor Farm, agrees that it is a useful tool, especially in light of statistics which suggest that 40 per cent of heifers need some assistance when it comes to calving.

Mr Pearson said: “Calf mortality is very much affected by calving and so anything we can do to make that process as easy as possible should be put in place.

“However, pelvic measuring is just one tool in the toolbox, there are lots of other variables that farmers need to be aware of which affect calving ease; the genetics of the bull, the age and condition of the heifer as well as nutrition and stockmanship.

“We need to ensure all these factors are optimal, and then look at the pelvis measurements, when managing heifer breeding.”

The changes introduced at Strone Farm during its first year as the Lochaber Monitor Farm Monitor will be highlighted by host farmers Chris and Malcolm Cameron at an open day at Strone Farm near Banavie, Fort William on Wednesday 13 June.

The meeting, which will begin at Strone at 1.30pm, will be free to attend and an invitation is extended to all. During the meeting, the Camerons will review the changes they have made on their 1,200-hectare hill farm so far and highlight what they plan to do next.

“So far the monitor farm programme has touched every aspect of our business,” said Chris Cameron. “Our community group is a vibrant bunch and I have enjoyed getting their feedback, good and bad, on the way we currently farm. The project has also seen me grow in confidence which has helped me to drive the business forward.

“We are keen to try and establish, with the help of the monitor farm programme, a business that is financially sustainable and provides a living for the family. We want to make enough net profit to allow for re-investment back into the business,” he added.

During the open day next week, attendees will have the opportunity to hear how the Lochaber Monitor Farm has developed its cattle, sheep and grassland policies and will also visit parts of the farm previously not seen as part of a farm tour.

Chris Cameron has made some significant changes to the sheep enterprise at Strone. The farm runs a flock of 500 Cheviot ewes, and has historically produced store lambs, with hoggs kept as replacements.

Due to a serious predation problem around Strone, ewes have been sent away to lamb for several years. The Camerons recently took on an additional 42 hectares of additional rented grazing at Fassfern, 11 miles from the home farm. This year they lambed their ewes with twins there and the ewes with singles were sent to rented grazing land near Inverness shortly after lambing.

Following a very successful Vision for Hill and Mountain Farming meeting in February, jointly hosted by the Lochaber monitor farm and NFU Scotland, Chris Cameron has been exploring the options available to hill farmers to add value to their lambs and already has some ideas for using this extra grazing.

“I’m keen to see if it would be feasible for us to use the extra grazing land at Fassfern to finish some lambs from our twin-bearing ewes, rather than selling them as store as we have done in the past. We are also running a small fattening trial with Harbro with our lambs are the moment.”

Strone farm also has 40 pure Limousin cows which are in-wintered. During the meeting Chris Cameron’s father Malcolm will report on how the herd is performing in relation to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by the community group at the beginning of the programme.

Another part of the farm enterprise to be highlighted at the open day, will be the work that has been done to improve the grazing land at Strone. After conducting a detailed soil analysis of several fields at Strone, some have benefited from being ploughed, reseeded, and treated with appropriate levels of lime and fertiliser in order to improve soil health and grass production.

During the afternoon the group will have the opportunity to visit one of the areas which has benefited from investment to discuss the results of the treatments.

“Of all the improvements we have made at Strone through the monitor farm programme, I am most pleased with the grass. We have more grass, it is better quality and so we are getting much better value for money from it,” said Chris Cameron.

Finally, the open day will feature a tour of the hill parks and foot of the hill, an area of the farm not yet visited in previous meeting. The group will also visit Clunes, an area of rented seasonal grazing six miles from Strone that has also benefited from reseeding. Whilst there the group will see some of Strone’s heifers with calves at foot .

The Lochaber Monitor Farm is one of nine monitor farms that have been established around Scotland in a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds. The aim of the programme, which is funded by Scottish Government, is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting at Strone on Wednesday 13 June will begin at 1.30pm and will end at 5pm. Attendees are then invited to stay on for a BBQ and some light entertainment. As there will be a farm tour as part of the programme, attendees are encouraged to bring wet weather gear.

To book your attendance (and place at the BBQ!) please contact Niall Campbell or Morven MacArthur on 01631 563093 or email fbsoban@sac.co.uk.

Ways to improve soil and crop health and to reduce compaction issues will be the focus of the next meeting of the North Ayrshire Monitor Farm on Friday 8 June.

At the meeting, which will be held at Girtridge Farm in Dundonald, Dr Bill Crooks, Soil Specialist from SRUC, Scotland’s Rural College, will explain how soil health influences grass growth, describe the essential soil nutrients and highlight options for improving soil structure.

The meeting will also look at a number of other areas important for soil health, including soil compaction and liming strategies. For host farmer John Howie, these issues are particularly relevant at Girtridge.

“At the beginning of the monitor farm programme we got our soil tested and found that some of our fields are high in Potash however most are very low in pH.”

Girtridge grew 28 hectares of spring barley last year and this year will grow eight hectares of winter barley too, however Mr Howie found that the barley fields in particular need to be limed regularly.  Based on the results of soil tests, he has spread over 72 tonnes of lime so far this year and plans to do more in the coming months.

Also at the meeting next week, Mr Richard Bray, an agronomist from Agrovista, will look at Girtridge’s  spring and winter barley crops and discuss issues such as crop disease, plant density and fungicide treatment options in order to optimise the health and the profitability of the crop.  

The North Ayrshire Monitor farm, like many others around Scotland, has some soil compaction  around gateways and in other sections of grazing land. Options to minimise compaction will be covered by Dr Crooks at the meeting and a range of aeration machinery will be demonstrated to show different ways to open up the soil to improve plant growth and water flow. 

John Howie, North Ayrshire’s monitor farm host, runs a flock of 250 breeding ewes which started lambing at the beginning of April. As well as finishing over 200 cattle each year, Girtridge also runs a small suckler herd of continental cross cows, which started calving on 14 April.

Mr Howie, who farms in partnership with his mother Margaret and sister Mary, will give an update to the group at the meeting on 8 June about how this year’s lambing and calving went.

“Calving went really well this year and we were pleased that none of our cows needed assistance. Lambing was more challenging though due to the weather. Although we didn’t see much snow at Girtridge, the wet, cold weather meant that we unfortunately lost some lambs and ewes after we turned them out. We are also seeing an increased number of mastitis cases in our ewes this year,” said Mr Howie.

The North Ayrshire Monitor Farm is one of nine monitor farms that have been established across Scotland in a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds, with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting on 8^th June at Girtridge Farm, Dundonald, KA2 9BX will begin at 10.30am. Lunch will be provided, and the meeting is expected to finish by 2.30pm. All are welcome and the event is free.

For catering purposes, those interested in coming along on 8^thJune should confirm attendance by calling 01292 525252 or emailing FBSAyr@sac.co.uk

The importance of managing summer pastures and what factors influence profit during the summer months will be the focus of the next meeting of the Sutherland Monitor Farm on Wednesday 6^th June.

At the meeting, which will begin at Brora Golf Club at 10.30am, Trevor Cook, a vet and grassland consultant, will share his knowledge on how livestock farmers can best profit from pasture based systems. Mr Cook, who is from New Zealand, is one of the most respected consultants specialising in advising farmers on all aspects of production from grass based systems.

Trevor visited Clynelish Farm, the Sutherland Monitor farm, last September and suggested that husband and wife team Jason and Vic Ballantyne, who run the 125 hectare farm in Brora in partnership with Jason’s dad Murdo, try establishing a winter paddock grazing system for their sheep last winter.

However, following Mr Cook’s visit, the plans the couple had to establish the paddocks were halted due to the severe weather.

“We were completely waterlogged from the middle of October,” said Vic Ballantyne. “And half the farm was underwater during November, so any plans we had to establish winter paddock grazing had to be abandoned.”

Like lots of other farmers and crofters across Scotland this winter, the Ballantynes had to buy in extra feed for their stock this year.

“Our swede crop wasn’t as good as hoped so we bought in an extra 51 tonnes. We also bought some bagged feed for the first time in ten years and a lot of extra silage, plus rented extra grazing, so it was a very expensive winter,” said Jason Ballantyne.

“So we are keen to find ways to maximise our grazing this year to mitigate these costs and ensure we have more feed ready for this winter,” he added.

Although the Ballantynes were disappointed that they weren’t able to put their winter grazing plans into action, they are well placed to use more rotational grazing this year having installed eight extra water troughs and mains electric fencing across the farm.

They have also permanently split some fields and will split more this summer allowing them to better manage their grazing. The flock has already been split up into three groups of approximately 300 ewes plus followers on fields of three to five hectares and moved every three to five days.

Also, following previous advice from Trevor Cook, the Ballantynes got fertiliser on as soon as it was dry enough and saw the benefit in the resulting grass growth, which meant that they were able to turn their cows out on 27 April, just a few days later than usual.

“This means they are feeding themselves through most of lambing. A later outdoor calving means we don’t have to do too much with them when we are busy with sheep” said Mr Ballantyne.

After lunch at the golf club, there will be a visit to nearby Clynelish Farm where the Ballantynes will provide an update on how lambing and calving has gone this year. Clynelish calve 70 cows outdoors from 5^th May and carries a flock of 900 breeding ewes, of which about half are Lairg type Cheviots and the other half Lleyn cross, which currently lamb outdoors at the end of April.

“The lambs are looking good,” said Vic Ballantyne. “Although we had a lower than average scanning rate, probably due to the hard conditions this winter, we are very pleased that we have had hardly any losses post lambing.”

Clynelish Farm is one of nine monitor farms established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the monitor farm programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting at Clynelish Farm on Wednesday 6^th June, is free to attend and open to all. It will begin at Brora Golf Club at 11am, with coffee and registration from 10.30am. Lunch is included.

Farmers interested in attending the next Sutherland Monitor farm meeting should confirm attendance with the facilitators Willie Budge or Cat MacGregor by phoning SAC Thurso on 01847 892602 or emailing FBSThurso@sac.co.uk

The potential to make better use of pasture and barley variety trials will be among the areas under the spotlight of the next meeting of the Shetland Monitor Farm on Saturday 2^nd June.

Shetland generally has longer winters and shorter summers than the rest of the UK, which can make it difficult for livestock farmers to grow enough grass or crops to feed their animals all year round.

Last year, sisters Kirsty and Aimee Budge from Bigton, the Shetland Monitor Farm, tried rotational grazing for the first time to help better utilise the grass that they had.

“We invested in some electric fencing and set up about seven acres of rotational grazing for our cows last year,” said Kirsty Budge. “It worked really well, so we plan to set up around 20 acres this summer.

“One thing we learnt last year was the importance of keeping track of grass growth, so this year we will be using a grass measuring plate meter to make sure that we know when to move stock to keep the grass at the optimal height.”

Trevor Cook, a vet and grassland consultant will be the key speaker at the meeting. Most of his time is spent as a sheep and beef production consultant, working one-on-one with farm owners and managers around New Zealand and more recently in the UK.

At the meeting, which will begin at Bigton Hall at 11am, Mr Cook will cover issues including pasture utilisation, nitrogen use and the ewe and cow feed requirement throughout the year, to help Shetland livestock keepers achieve optimal performance in their livestock.

“Using the minimum amount of pasture to achieve the production targets set is the essence of profitable farming.” Said Mr Cook.

“Livestock keepers can calculate the feed demand of their animals and how much grass and crops they are likely to produce. By anticipating the likely feed supply and knowing what the feed demand of their animals will be, they can make changes to their management to ensure that supply is enough.”

At the meeting on 2^nd June, Kirsty and Aimee Budge will also give a round-up of lambing and calving at Bigton this spring. The sisters currently lamb around 360 ewes and calve 68 cows starting in May. “This year’s lambing kicked off really well with 89% of ewes lambing in the first two weeks,” said Aimee Budge. “Calving has also gone well so far. We did lose three calves at the beginning, but have had a couple of sets of twins which has helped.” 

Bigton farm is one of the few farms on Shetland that grow barley. The Budges are keen to find ways to maximise the yield of their crop and are currently running a small trial with AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds to see if there is a variety more suited to their farm than the Wagon variety they currently grow.

The farm has therefore established four one-acre plots and sown Golden Promise, Fairing, Anneli and Brage varieties in each. The four trial plots have also benefited from recommended nitrogen and other fertiliser supplementation and it is hoped that the results will highlight whether an investment in agronomy and seed varieties can increase their barley yield in the future.

The Shetland Monitor Farm is one of nine monitor farms that have been established around Scotland in a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds. The aim of the programme, which is funded by Scottish Government, is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting on Saturday 2^nd June will begin at Bigton Hall at 11am and end at 3pm. Lunch will be provided.

To book your attendance (and lunch!) please contact Graham Fraser, SAC Consulting Lerwick on 01595 693520 or email frbslerwick@sac.co.uk

Farmers will get the chance to compare notes on an extremely challenging season, as well as finding out how their local monitor farm coped, at the coming Lothians Monitor Farm meeting on 23 May.

Project facilitator Colin MacPhail explains: “We see the whole day as chance to catch up after a really difficult period for the livestock and arable farmers. We’ll look back over what the farms have been doing over the winter and spring months, and find out what the plans are for this season.”

For Lothians Monitor Farmer Bill Gray the meeting is a good chance to find how the wider group is dealing with the issues he is currently facing, such as late drilling of winter and spring crops.

He says: “We are dealing with problems that began back in the autumn when our winter barley was established three weeks later than usual in mid-October, and some of our winter wheat wasn’t sown until early in November into poor seedbed conditions

“Ideally after such a late start we would have been hoping for a kind winter, followed by an early spring, but of course we got quite the opposite.

“While some of the crops seem to be doing fine despite the difficulties, some fields are clearly struggling and that means we need to make some difficult decisions about adjusting inputs – including possibly limiting nitrogen applications

“It’s a really delicate balance. The aim is to match nitrogen use to the yield that we are potentially able to produce, so if that yield potential is low we look to adjust inputs. However, that means we need to judge the crop’s potential as accurately as possible, which isn’t straightforward. It would be all too easy to reduce too far and not reach what potential we have.”

Lothians Monitor Farmer Peter Eccles, who manages the farm neighbouring Bill’s, has also had a tough season, although his focus is on livestock.

He says: “In some ways we were fortunate as we didn’t start lambing until 10 April, after the snows. However, the ewes weren’t in as good condition as we would have liked, although we did try to minimise condition loss through hard feeding over February and March.

“I think this has led to lower quality colostrum with a number of joint ill cases in lambs, something they have never suffered from before in our outdoor system.”

On the cattle side the situation has been far rosier, with an excellent calving period, but of course feed costs have increased significantly.

“We’ve had to buy in a lot of additional feed and bedding this year,” Peter explains. “The stock have endured a particularly harsh winter yet we have come through it and our contingency plans have held firm and we are now able to enjoy the better spell of weather.”

As well as hearing detailed updates from Bill and Peter, the group will tour the arable fields, discussing the challenges of the coming season with Bill and agronomist David Paul. In the afternoon there will be market updates on both the livestock and arable sectors.

The final part of the day will focus on Saughland’s livestock with tours of the cattle and sheep and the group will discuss sheep to cattle ratios, sheep and cattle performance, grass growth and management as well as the farm’s marketing policy.

The Lothians Monitor farm – a partnership between neighbouring farms Saughland and Prestonhall – is one of nine monitor farms established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the monitor farm programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting on 23 May will be start at Prestonhall Farms, Rosemains, all are welcome and the event is free. Tea and coffee will be available from 10am and lunch will be provided, however for catering purposes those interested in coming along on 23rd May should confirm attendance with Colin MacPhail on 07747 046461 or at colin@macphailconsulting.co.uk. The meeting is expected to finish by 3pm.

A farm tour will give attendees at the next Nithsdale Monitor farm meeting the opportunity to see the changes made on Clonhie Farm over the last 12 months.

One of the things to be reviewed during the tour of Clonhie Farm on Thursday 17 May, will be the overwintering grazing system the farm established for the first time last winter.

“We’ve always struggled to find enough grazing for our ewes over winter,” said Andrew Marchant, who runs 1,000 breeding ewes and a small suckler herd of 20 Luing cows over a total of 303 hectares.

“So when the management group suggested that we try paddock grazing on deferred grass and strip grazing on kale for the ewes last winter, I was keen to give it a go.”

The Marchants set up 25 hectares of deferred grass for paddock grazing, and four hectares of kale that was sown in May last year.  The flock was then split between the two systems with the flock of twins and triplets strip grazing the majority of the kale after scanning.

Although there was a time cost in moving the ewes every two days in the paddock grazing system, Mr Marchant was enthused with the result. He said: “I think it went really well. We definitely saved money on feed as I didn’t have to buy in as much concentrate, and I was really pleased with the condition of the ewes.”

Clonhie expanded in 2015 when it took over the tenancy of neighbouring Glengar farm which gave an extra 135 hectares of grazing.

“We haven’t really done anything with this land yet, other than have the soil  sampled  and analysed,” said Mr Marchant. “We are therefore really keen to get suggestions from other farmers about how we can manage this land and maximise its output.”

The farm tour will also give those attending the opportunity to see the red deer that have recently moved to Clonhie. Mr Marchant invested in 65 in calf hinds to complement his existing sheep and cattle enterprises.

“I’ve worked with deer before so, after doing some research and looking at the financial benefits of running a deer enterprise, it seemed like the natural choice for us to diversify in this way,” he said.

“They have settled in really well and are due to calve any day now, so there might even be some young calves to see at our next meeting.”

He has already fenced 40 acres of land and although admits that there is a substantial financial investment required to establish a deer enterprise, he is confident that the 400 strong herd, which he hopes to establish over the coming years, will help increase the profitability of his business.

After lunch, Mr Marchant will give a report on how lambing and calving went at Clonhie this Spring and the group will turn their attention to planning for the remainder of the spring and summer season. They will also look at the costs of setting up the deep enterprise and the projected margins expected.

The Nithsdale monitor farm is one of nine monitor farms that have been established around Scotland in a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds. The aim of the programme, which is funded by Scottish Government, is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting at Clonhie Farm on Thursday 17 May will begin at with tea and coffee at 10.30, with the farm tour leaving at 11am sharp. Lunch will be provided and the meeting is expected to finish at 3.30pm.

To book your place please contact facilitator Judith Hutchison on 07718 919055 or email judith.agridigm@icloud.com .