There is no denying that there could be a greater level of collaboration between arable and livestock farmers that would benefit both parties.
One such example of the potential benefits that exist was evident on Balbirnie Home Farms where a mixed farming enterprise is operated.
The farm encompasses approximately 1,300ha of farmed land, of which 900ha is used for combinable crop production and a further 100ha for vegetable production. The remaining 300ha is pasture used for the suckler herd.
“There is not enough of a link-up between the sectors,” according to Johnnie Balfour, managing partner of Balbirnie Home Farms.
“There is probably not enough livestock in this country to give us enough soil fertility, we don’t have enough ourselves.
“I see the cattle as critical to the success of our business and this farm would not run as well if we didn’t have them. We try and take a collaborative approach and they add a lot back to the land,” according to Johnnie. “We have always had a mixed farm here. We see the cattle as having a vital role when it comes to adding fertility back to the land. We try and keep it simple, cattle have legs and a mouth, they’re built to be grazing out at pasture.
“Feed the cattle with what you are growing and feed the dung back to the land, that is our system,” Johnnie explains.
Suckler herd
The suckler herd is made up of 220 cows with the herd calving down from 10 March onwards. Heifers will begin to calve down from the last week of February, according to Joe Henman, who forms part of the livestock team on the farm.
“Everything will calve down here at 24 months old. Giving the heifers an extra two weeks lets them regain a bit more condition and gives them more time to come cycling to ensure they calve again at three years old,” Joe explained.
The suckler herd is currently being dried off before they go out onto the kale.
There are currently a mix of breeds on the farm which does pose management challenges Joe admits.
“We would body condition score twice a year to keep on top of it, there is a mixture of breeds that will all hold their condition differently.”
The suckler herd gained its foundation from the dairy enterprise that used to be kept on the farm over 10 years ago with a lot of the Simmental cows on the farm being bred off dairy cows. The herd would still have a lot of these genetics feeding through to the cows currently on the farm so there has been a move towards buying in more beefy type heifers.
The farm has been buying in replacement heifers for the past six or seven years, but the plan now is to move towards producing replacements on farm to operate a closed herd but making changes to your cow type through breeding requires patience.
“We have started using Saler bulls on the heifers for ease of calving and to produce good replacement heifers,” outlined Joe.
The majoprity fo the progeny on the farm will be brought through tho slaughter, however, the option to sell some as stores is also there.
“We try and keep calving tight on the farm and have over 60% calved after six weeks, we have pulled back from a 10-week bulling period last year for the cows to nine weeks this year and the plan would be to pull that back even further if possible.”
“We would have traditionally finished everything on the farm, we would like to think of ourselves as a finisher of our own beasts, but we are flexible to the circumstances around us and sell cattle as stores too,” said Johnnie.
The farm did move to producing bull beef for several years but found bulls were coming fit for finishing at very young ages so instead moved back to producing steer and heifer beef.
The target now is to finish steers and heifers under 19 months at a carcase weight of 320-380kg.
“The majority of our beef would go to McIntosh Donald and we are producing the type of carcase that they want,” Johnnie explained. “The target is to have at least 50% of animals grading U.”
Winter plans
Kale will form part of the wintering system on the farm this year with 18ha sown at the end of May.
This is to be designated to the suckler cows with the hope to provide 200 cows with daily breaks.
Growing kale is new territory for the farm so there will be a certain amount of learning on the job as the winter progresses.
The 18ha field of kale will be grazed in situ by the suckler cows over the coming months.
Approximately 400 round bales of silage have been situated in rows throughout the crops to ensure the diet remains balanced.
Cattle on kale can be susceptible to nutritional red water so feeding silage alongside the crop can help to prevent this.
It is not yet known how long the crop will last as, inevitably, weather will be a determining factor.
However, the field where the kale is in situ is a very dry, free-draining soil capable of taking a lot of rain before it would be difficult to manoeuvre. However, if heavy snow falls in the early spring, then there is the option of housing cows. Cows will be housed anyway six weeks out from calving for closer attention.
Crop diversification
Crop diversification is of significant importance to the farm, in part due to the beneficial effects to rotations and to spread risk according to farm manager David Aglen.
The farm has over 900ha of arable crops including winter wheat, winter barley, winter oats, spring barley, spring oats, beans as well as a number of brassica crop such as kale to feed their cattle enterprise.
The farm also leases land for potato production and grows around 20ha of carrots for local markets.
Some of this ground is in rotation with their 300ha of grassland.
Just seven years ago, that farm grew grass, oilseed rape, cereals, along with carrots and potatoes. In order to reduce the risk, increase biodiversity and improve soil health, the farm decided to increase the portfolio of crops grown on the farm.
Along with these crops, they also now grow multi-species cover crops, beans, rye, kale and the plan to continue with this approach. “They don’t all work out every year but it’s about learning what works,” explained David.
The farm requires about 2,000 4x4x8 straw bales to cover their carrots and another 2,000 bales of straw for the stock. Depending on the year and demand, they may chop the remaining straw to help with their soil structure.
Like many arable operations, exposure to global grain markets and the pressure this has put on grain price in recent years is continued cause for concern.
One important aspect in the farms strategy to combat this and maximise profitability from their crops is to serve premium markets.
Ground conditions for sowing winter crops have been perfect this year.
For example, the farm produces over 200ha of winter and spring oats, much of which is milling grade for Quaker Oats. The farm is involved with Oat-Co, a producer group consisting of 87 members which facilitates the trading of oats to buyers. All of the spring barley is grown for distilling spec which requires low protein levels.
This is easily achievable due to their soil type. “We grow distilling grade malting barley as it is hard to achieve the higher nitrogen levels for brewing grade. If you load on the nitrogen, it’s hard to reach the spec so we just keep it low-cost and aim for low-nitrogen barley,” explains David.
Evolving establishment systems
Having worked further south where establishment systems such as min-till, strip-till and no-till are virtually commonplace, David was convinced a similar system could work on Balbirnie Home Farms.
Like most farms in Scotland, the traditional method of establishment centred around a plough-based system. However, in 2017 the farm sold the plough in favour of other conservational agriculture establishment methods.
David explains that, as was well as improving soil structures, it will ultimately lead to a reduction in costs. Having tried a weaving drill, a Claydon drill and tried a number of others, they recently purchased a John Deere no-till drill.
It’s really about experimenting and finding a system that works. Last year they also tried broadcasting a small area of wheat onto the surface following a field of potatoes. “There was a lot of seed on the surface and there wasn’t much bird damage. It worked well although it was on sandy soil,” explains David.
Winter sowing is 99% complete on the farm with conditions perfect for the job.
After what has been a challenging 12 months on any arable farm the current respite with the weather will come as a welcome boost as winter crops get a head start.
Plans for the future
While there are challenges facing any business, not least the potential implications of a no-deal Brexit, Johnnie is optimistic about the future of the business: “We want to move towards producing food and not commodities because that is where a real margin can be made on produce.
“It’s not easy to get to that stage and our plan would be to start off with beef.
For the first time this year we are going to try and finish stock completely on forage, by using kale over the winter period,” explains Johnnie. “Down the line we would like to try and develop our own brand for our own beef so we will see how this year progresses.”
There is no denying that there could be a greater level of collaboration between arable and livestock farmers that would benefit both parties.
One such example of the potential benefits that exist was evident on Balbirnie Home Farms where a mixed farming enterprise is operated.
The farm encompasses approximately 1,300ha of farmed land, of which 900ha is used for combinable crop production and a further 100ha for vegetable production. The remaining 300ha is pasture used for the suckler herd.
“There is not enough of a link-up between the sectors,” according to Johnnie Balfour, managing partner of Balbirnie Home Farms.
“There is probably not enough livestock in this country to give us enough soil fertility, we don’t have enough ourselves.
“I see the cattle as critical to the success of our business and this farm would not run as well if we didn’t have them. We try and take a collaborative approach and they add a lot back to the land,” according to Johnnie. “We have always had a mixed farm here. We see the cattle as having a vital role when it comes to adding fertility back to the land. We try and keep it simple, cattle have legs and a mouth, they’re built to be grazing out at pasture.
“Feed the cattle with what you are growing and feed the dung back to the land, that is our system,” Johnnie explains.
Suckler herd
The suckler herd is made up of 220 cows with the herd calving down from 10 March onwards. Heifers will begin to calve down from the last week of February, according to Joe Henman, who forms part of the livestock team on the farm.
“Everything will calve down here at 24 months old. Giving the heifers an extra two weeks lets them regain a bit more condition and gives them more time to come cycling to ensure they calve again at three years old,” Joe explained.
The suckler herd is currently being dried off before they go out onto the kale.
There are currently a mix of breeds on the farm which does pose management challenges Joe admits.
“We would body condition score twice a year to keep on top of it, there is a mixture of breeds that will all hold their condition differently.”
The suckler herd gained its foundation from the dairy enterprise that used to be kept on the farm over 10 years ago with a lot of the Simmental cows on the farm being bred off dairy cows. The herd would still have a lot of these genetics feeding through to the cows currently on the farm so there has been a move towards buying in more beefy type heifers.
The farm has been buying in replacement heifers for the past six or seven years, but the plan now is to move towards producing replacements on farm to operate a closed herd but making changes to your cow type through breeding requires patience.
“We have started using Saler bulls on the heifers for ease of calving and to produce good replacement heifers,” outlined Joe.
The majoprity fo the progeny on the farm will be brought through tho slaughter, however, the option to sell some as stores is also there.
“We try and keep calving tight on the farm and have over 60% calved after six weeks, we have pulled back from a 10-week bulling period last year for the cows to nine weeks this year and the plan would be to pull that back even further if possible.”
“We would have traditionally finished everything on the farm, we would like to think of ourselves as a finisher of our own beasts, but we are flexible to the circumstances around us and sell cattle as stores too,” said Johnnie.
The farm did move to producing bull beef for several years but found bulls were coming fit for finishing at very young ages so instead moved back to producing steer and heifer beef.
The target now is to finish steers and heifers under 19 months at a carcase weight of 320-380kg.
“The majority of our beef would go to McIntosh Donald and we are producing the type of carcase that they want,” Johnnie explained. “The target is to have at least 50% of animals grading U.”
Winter plans
Kale will form part of the wintering system on the farm this year with 18ha sown at the end of May.
This is to be designated to the suckler cows with the hope to provide 200 cows with daily breaks.
Growing kale is new territory for the farm so there will be a certain amount of learning on the job as the winter progresses.
The 18ha field of kale will be grazed in situ by the suckler cows over the coming months.
Approximately 400 round bales of silage have been situated in rows throughout the crops to ensure the diet remains balanced.
Cattle on kale can be susceptible to nutritional red water so feeding silage alongside the crop can help to prevent this.
It is not yet known how long the crop will last as, inevitably, weather will be a determining factor.
However, the field where the kale is in situ is a very dry, free-draining soil capable of taking a lot of rain before it would be difficult to manoeuvre. However, if heavy snow falls in the early spring, then there is the option of housing cows. Cows will be housed anyway six weeks out from calving for closer attention.
Crop diversification
Crop diversification is of significant importance to the farm, in part due to the beneficial effects to rotations and to spread risk according to farm manager David Aglen.
The farm has over 900ha of arable crops including winter wheat, winter barley, winter oats, spring barley, spring oats, beans as well as a number of brassica crop such as kale to feed their cattle enterprise.
The farm also leases land for potato production and grows around 20ha of carrots for local markets.
Some of this ground is in rotation with their 300ha of grassland.
Just seven years ago, that farm grew grass, oilseed rape, cereals, along with carrots and potatoes. In order to reduce the risk, increase biodiversity and improve soil health, the farm decided to increase the portfolio of crops grown on the farm.
Along with these crops, they also now grow multi-species cover crops, beans, rye, kale and the plan to continue with this approach. “They don’t all work out every year but it’s about learning what works,” explained David.
The farm requires about 2,000 4x4x8 straw bales to cover their carrots and another 2,000 bales of straw for the stock. Depending on the year and demand, they may chop the remaining straw to help with their soil structure.
Like many arable operations, exposure to global grain markets and the pressure this has put on grain price in recent years is continued cause for concern.
One important aspect in the farms strategy to combat this and maximise profitability from their crops is to serve premium markets.
Ground conditions for sowing winter crops have been perfect this year.
For example, the farm produces over 200ha of winter and spring oats, much of which is milling grade for Quaker Oats. The farm is involved with Oat-Co, a producer group consisting of 87 members which facilitates the trading of oats to buyers. All of the spring barley is grown for distilling spec which requires low protein levels.
This is easily achievable due to their soil type. “We grow distilling grade malting barley as it is hard to achieve the higher nitrogen levels for brewing grade. If you load on the nitrogen, it’s hard to reach the spec so we just keep it low-cost and aim for low-nitrogen barley,” explains David.
Evolving establishment systems
Having worked further south where establishment systems such as min-till, strip-till and no-till are virtually commonplace, David was convinced a similar system could work on Balbirnie Home Farms.
Like most farms in Scotland, the traditional method of establishment centred around a plough-based system. However, in 2017 the farm sold the plough in favour of other conservational agriculture establishment methods.
David explains that, as was well as improving soil structures, it will ultimately lead to a reduction in costs. Having tried a weaving drill, a Claydon drill and tried a number of others, they recently purchased a John Deere no-till drill.
It’s really about experimenting and finding a system that works. Last year they also tried broadcasting a small area of wheat onto the surface following a field of potatoes. “There was a lot of seed on the surface and there wasn’t much bird damage. It worked well although it was on sandy soil,” explains David.
Winter sowing is 99% complete on the farm with conditions perfect for the job.
After what has been a challenging 12 months on any arable farm the current respite with the weather will come as a welcome boost as winter crops get a head start.
Plans for the future
While there are challenges facing any business, not least the potential implications of a no-deal Brexit, Johnnie is optimistic about the future of the business: “We want to move towards producing food and not commodities because that is where a real margin can be made on produce.
“It’s not easy to get to that stage and our plan would be to start off with beef.
For the first time this year we are going to try and finish stock completely on forage, by using kale over the winter period,” explains Johnnie. “Down the line we would like to try and develop our own brand for our own beef so we will see how this year progresses.”
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