Aberdeenshire is the principal area in Scottish cattle finishing, carrying a quarter of Scotland’s total finishing cattle. The region is home to one of the most mixed farming areas in Britain – livestock finishing and cereal production operate hand-in-hand.

The cereal sector is of utmost importance to the agricultural output of the region, with cereals predominately utilised in the well-renowned and expanding distilling/malting industry (Aberdeenshire now accounts for a third of Scottish malting barley requirements).

Additionally, the malting industries have also provided a constant source of competitively priced feed by-products for the livestock sector. These by-products, along with on-farm cereals (as much as a third of the total fed to livestock), form the basis of most intensive finishing diets.

Aberdeenshire, which was always traditionally associated with livestock finishing and the infrastructure of the region, further supported and developed this enterprise due to its close proximity to a large number of grain handling ports and is home to some of the largest store cattle markets in the north east.

The tour visited the Walker brothers who farm a 1,000-acre holding in the fertile Aberdeenshire area. Bruce and George Walker have farmed their land in partnership for the last 40 years.

Typical of the farms in the area, the Walkers operate a mixed farming enterprise.

Seventy-five percent of the 1,000 acres is dedicated to cereal production: 200 acres of winter barley; 130 acres of winter wheat; 180 acres of seed certified spring barley and 130 acres of rape.

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The arable enterprise is run mainly by George, with assistance from his son. The remaining 250 acres is in temporary grassland and is used to support the livestock operation. Temporary grassland forms an integral part of the farm’s overall cropping rotation – 10 to 12 years of cereals and four years of grass.

Bruce assumes full control of the livestock side of the farming partnership. The farm operates on the principal of an integrated system of production, which means the livestock finishing enterprise uses the entire 200 acres of winter barley as an on-farm feed source for the cattle, along with straw for either feeding or bedding purposes. In return, dung/organic manure is swapped and spread (at 10 tonne/acre) on the cereals ground in order to recycle nutrients and maintain the organic matter status of the soil. Such integration is of critical economic importance to both production enterprises.

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George explained to the group that, from a cereals farmer’s perspective, this source of organic manure is invaluable and any move away from livestock finishing in the area would have serious knock-on implications to the productivity of the cereal sector.

While a 1,000-acre farm might seem quite vast in comparison to Irish farms (average farm size 32 hectares), it’s worth acknowledging that the revenues from this holding must sustain the livelihoods of four families – both George and Bruce’s families as well as their two son’s families and one farm labourer.

Livestock Enterprise

The main livestock enterprise revolves around the annual finishing of approximately 1,200 to 1,300 heifers. Heifers are mainly of Charolais breeding, exhibiting good growth potential and excellent weight for age. Over the intensive finishing period, these animals are highly efficient at converting feed into carcase gain. Heifers are purchased at livestock markets in northern Aberdeenshire throughout the year, though the vast majority of them are purchased in the early spring (March-April) or autumn time periods.

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Cattle are sourced and finished in the Aberdeenshire region so that they qualify for a price bonus afforded to Scottish origin beef. Bruce generally purchases stock at the very top end of the market. Although he will buy depending on value, he accounts for reduced feed conversion, kill-out percentages, conformation differences in the purchase price. Weight for age is of critical importance and the target at purchase for spring-born heifers is greater than 400kg at 12 to 14 months of age. Similarly, autumn-born heifers need to be close to 500kg. Three- to four-hundred autumn-born heifers were purchased for finishing this spring. Sourcing suitable quality stock proved to be one of the most challenging tasks this spring. Bruce explained: “Many cattle were not well wintered, little or no grain was fed and animals were well behind target.”

While he could have bought these cattle cheaper, he felt that the extended time to slaughter would complicate the system. In general, the store price he paid was up between 4p to 10p/kg on the same period last year. However, this can be offset with a rise in Scottish factory prices to record levels. Prices are some 18% ahead of last year, equating to a 70c/kg rise on the year. Interestingly, Bruce works on the principal that a £200 to £300 per head profit over variable costs is required to justify the barley input.

In addition to the cattle, Bruce also runs a significant sheep finishing operation, with in excess of 2,500 store lambs (18kg to 20kg) purchased from the Shetland Islands and finished to slaughter each year. A proportion is targeted at the lucrative Christmas market.

Intensive Finishing

Following a three week acclimation/build-up period, heifers were intensively finished on a high-energy diet for 70 to 80 days. Heifers were housed on a solid floor shed with accompanying straw layback. The floor at the feed face was dusted with sand to reduce the risk of cattle slipping and causing injury.

The cattle shed had a capacity for 300 head of cattle, with a stocking rate in each pen of 23 cattle. Bruce told the group that as the finishing period progresses, to keep stocking rate in check he removes one animal per pen every two weeks. He said: “Remember, every pen is putting on 24kg a day. Over two weeks, that’s an extra 320kg to 340kg/pen.”

The importance of suitable ventilation in a shed was also highlighted, especially for animals on a high level of gain. Interestingly, the Walker Brothers had major roles in both the design and building of most of the sheds on the farm – the most recent of which was completed during the foot and mouth outbreak. All sheds were innovatively designed to have multifunctional uses to the farming operation. For instance, by simply turning the beams, the sheds could be easily redesigned to house either cattle or sheep or, alternatively, to store or dry cereals.

During the finishing phase, animals were offered a TMR-based diet, with feeding on the unit taking place three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Feeding three times a week, as opposed to daily, considerably reduces the labour input and also limits the need for weekend labour – when payment rates are at a premium. Feed is offered at 2.5% of the animal’s body weight (16kg/head).

This ensures a constant availability of feed and reduces the risk of acidosis. The finishing diet is a high energy dry feed based predominately on propcorn treated barley sourced from the on-farm tillage operation. In total, 1,000 tonnes of barley is fed back to livestock annually.

The diet specification is very simple, with 68% barley, 20% pot ale syrup, 10% straw and 2% minerals and vitamins. Pot ale syrup is a distilling by-product (liquid remaining after producing whiskey) that is readily available in the region and is an excellent feed option for finishing cattle.

However, the price of this by-product is increasing steadily. Bruce told the group that pot ale syrup is currently trading at £60/ tonne – that’s a 100% price increase on two years ago.

Target performance over the finishing period is 1.4kg to 1.5kg/day. This equates to an impressive 1kg of carcase gain per day. Carcase weights are generally between 330kg to 340kg, with the majority of stock killing into U/E grades. Bruce aims to feed the heifers into a fat class 4-/4=, but acknowledges that this could be a struggle this year as cattle are somewhat behind their target owing to the challenging weather and fodder issue seen in the spring.

Dietary cost on the intensive finishing diet totalled €2.30 to €2.40 per day. By contrasting finishing costs on this farm to those incurred on a standard Irish finishing operation, the difference is quite apparent. For instance, to deposit 1kg of gain on Bruce’s farm, it cost between €1.40 and €1.60 (growing at 1.40kg/d), whereas in Ireland the equivalent cost would be €2.30 to €2.50, or a differential of €0.70 to €0.90 for every kg of gain.

Importance of grass to the system

While intensive finishing may be the main activity of the unit, the role of grass and optimal performance at pasture were also recognised as crucially important to the overall production system.

Grass accounted for a large proportion of the spring-born heifer’s diet. Over a typical five to six month grazing season, approximately 135kg to 150kg of cheap liveweight gain was targeted from grass. This cheap liveweight gain was of significant benefit to the system as it lowered the cost of production dramatically.

Following purchase, heifers were separated based on their liveweight and managed accordingly. For example, heifers below 500kg were sent to grass for the season and heifers above 500kg were put straight on an intensive finishing system indoors.

The grazing season on the farm commenced in late March and finished for the heifers in early September. Like most farms in the region, a set stocking grazing system was practiced.

Given that the grassland formed part of the overall farm rotation, field size as such was quite large, with many fields in excess of 30 acres. Grazing fields were divided and managed by temporary mains electric fencing.

A high stocking rate was in place on the unit with two heifers stocked per acre, or, if we take the typical 30 acre field, this fed, on average, 70 heifers. Overall, this equates to an impressive 1,000kg to 1,100kg of liveweight per acre.

To sustain this stocking rate and drive grass production, 180 units of nitrogen fertilizer (N) was applied per acre – applications of 60 units of N in March, May and August. Speaking to the group, Bruce said: “The reseeded swards respond very quickly to the fertilizer application.”

Towards the end of the summer, with the decline in growth and grass quality, animals are supplemented on pasture with concentrate at 1kg to 2kg/head.

The ration used is a simple barley and pot-ale syrup balanced mix (13% to 14% CP; 12 MJ/ME) and is dispensed by means of feed snacker, which drops 5kg of ration at 7ft intervals across the field. The free-draining soil of the area permits the use of this labour-saving method of feeding.

At grass, performance is monitored on a regular basis and a liveweight gain of 0.90kg to 1kg/day is targeted and usually achieved throughout the grazing season. The high nutrient value of newly reseeded swards (seeded every four to five years) is vital to maintain these weight gains, even at set stocking systems.

Bruce told the group that poor performance at grass increases the cost of the system. He gave the example of last year’s performance where daily gains were 50% below target at 0.4kg/day. Despite seeing some compensatory growth when animals were transferred to the finishing diet, days to slaughter had to be extended to attain slaughter weight and fat cover.

Cattle have access to mineral supplementation throughout the year. Bruce is a big advocate of mineral supplementation and he finds it helps animal performance and eliminates the risk of any mineral deficiencies when grazing ground has been used for different crops.