Making greater use of the opportunity for faster genetic gain in the suckler herd was one of the key topics of discussion for visitors to the Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm’s summer meeting.
Bruce Irvine farms Sauchentree, near Fraserburgh, which is home to 650 acres with cereals, sheep and cattle.
He believes all three enterprises are just as important as each other, with livestock providing fertility for the arable side.
Attendees said that while the farm might be low input as it is organic, its output, both stock and crops, was high quality.
The open day was an opportunity for visitors to hear about progress since the launch meeting six months ago, and to discuss key issues with technical specialists such Alison Taylor of Buchan Vets, who discussed bull health and fertility, and SRUC vet Tim Geraghty, who spoke about managing replacement heifers.
“Bruce is doing an excellent job already but the herd’s genetic gain could become even faster by keeping a higher proportion of his herd as replacement heifers – roughly 15-20 each year for his herd size of 100 to 11o cows,” said Mr Geraghty.
Adrian James, an AHDB specialist, discussed mechanical weed control – an essential on organic units – and cover crop options.
Bruce has already drilled plantain and chicory into his grass silage in an attempt to improve rooting on his drought-prone soils.
He does reckon he may have a compaction issue and this was a big topic of discussion.
Since becoming a Monitor Farm, Bruce has received the results of an Integrated Land Management Options report undertaken by SAC, a stock health management plan, as well as being prompted to look at farm data in much greater detail.
Peter Oosterhof, chairman of the Monitor Farm’s management group, said the day was full of positives, enthusiasm and ideas, with a lot of praise for the farm and the stock, especially the bulling heifers.
Monitor Farm regional adviser Peter Beattie added: “The theme of this meeting was ‘low input-high output’, and what came out very strongly was how impressed visitors were with how Bruce runs the organic system.
For more information about future meetings and to join the Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm Community Group, visit www.monitorfarms.co.uk or contact Monitor Farm regional adviser Peter Beattie at pbeattie@qmscotland.co.uk or 07769 366614.
