The Farm Profit Programme is an ambitious new project delivered by the Farmers Journal and ANM Group with the support of the Scottish Government. The objective of the programme is to improve the technical performance and profitability of livestock farms across the north and northeast of Scotland. Read more

We farm in a family partnership at Drumforber Farm, Laurencekirk, in the Howe of the Mearns. It is very much an arable farm, with much of the land Macaulay Class 2. However, we are progressively increasing the area of the farm we have down to grass at the expense of arable, as we both prefer cattle and can see a better income coming from livestock compared with growing cereals. Around one-third of the farm in grass, with the rest down to cereals, shopping swedes, peas and potatoes.

The expanding herd of commercial cows is made up of Limousin-cross and Aberdeen Angus-cross cows. Alongside this, we have pedigree Limousin cattle under the Westpit prefix.

Calves not retained for breeding or pedigree sale are sold in a variety of ways, from store through to fat.

In total, we have 80 cows and the plan is to increase numbers over the next few years.

However, trying to do this from within the herd is a slow process.

One of the key things in the programme will be maximising the output from grass. In our farm plan, we have identified some fields for subdivision to improve the utilisation of grazed grass. Alongside this, we aim to improve the feed value of silage to reduce the amount of purchased feed we are using for the winter.

Within the herd, we are aiming to reduce our calving spread as the current pattern is a bit spread out. By doing this, it will make the management of the commercial herd easier and give us more time to concentrate on the pedigree herd.