The secrets of a successful mixed livestock farm

Managing a 240-cow milking herd is one thing, but fattening 1800 cattle and 500 lambs annually is an entirely different ball game.

But that’s precisely what happens with the Taylor family who farm at Upper Braikley near Ellon. Scott mainly manages the dairy side of the business, while his dad, Gordon, and brother, Craig, run the beef and sheep enterprise on their Aberdeenshire unit.

Scott's mum works two days a week as a vet and then helps at home for the rest of the time. They also employ two milkers, Lynne Thomson and Rachel Clark, and a full-time tractor man, Scott Noble. Scott's sister, Gail, studies rural business management at university but still finds time to feed the calves and carry out general farm work.   

This third-generation family business started in 1950 when Gordon's father, Sandy, bought Old Mill of Chivas. Four other farms were purchased along the way before the family bought Upper Braikley in 2010, giving them an overall acreage of 1700.

The milking herd consists of 240 cows, including pedigree and commercial animals. There are 100 Holstein Friesians, 85 pure-bred Ayrshires under the Old Mill prefix, and five pure-bred Jerseys. The rest are a mixture of Jersey Cross, Montbéliard, and Brown Swiss.

Scott says he much prefers the Ayrshire breed to any other: “There's nothing like an Ayrshire cow for resilience and longevity. Scott says they’re hardier than other breeds, robust, and produce a decent amount of milk”.   

The cows are milked twice daily through a Fullwood 26-point internal rotary parlour. Two people take three hours to milk the 220 cows with milk sold to Muller. Milk recording is done through CIS. Butterfat is 4.4%, protein is 3.22%, and the average daily yield is 8400 litres.

Milk was sold to Yewtree until a few months ago, and then reverted to Müller when they bought over Yewtree. Gordon says Muller paid them the same price of 36ppl during October and November, but the price suddenly dropped by 3ppl in December without explanation. Gordon said, "I found it very hard to understand the sudden drop, especially when other processors are holding their price or putting it up."

Gordon and Scott say they are concerned about the Muller takeover of Yewtree. Four years ago, Muller said supply was substantially outstripping demand and gave 12 months' notice to 14 dairy farms in Aberdeenshire. The company said the suppliers were based in areas that presented "heightened or complex logistical transport challenges" for the company.

Gordon says: "It's early days. However, my major concern is that history doesn't repeat itself, and Muller turns their back on us again.  "We're at a stage where we need to invest in our parlour setup, but with this current situation, it's difficult to know what to do. "I can't help but wonder about the future of producing milk in this part of the world".

When Gordon's father was producing milk, there were 650 producers in the area, and now there are just 15.

The cows are housed mainly in cubicles with mattresses for comfort and bedded with sawdust. Freshly calved cows and dry cows are kept on straw-bedded courts.

In the summer months, the cows are out during the day and in at night. They are fed twice daily on a TMR ration of grass silage, draff, bruised barley, a blend, and molasses through a Keenan feeder.

The Taylors grow 160 acres of silage, which a contractor takes off in three cuts. They also grow 800 acres of winter and spring barley for feeding but still need to buy some. They also grow 50 acres of oil seed rape.

A cake supplied by East Coast Viners feeds cows according to yield, while the dairy blend is bought through Harbro with the help of their Nutritionist, Stuart Cameron.

The Taylors, who calf all year round, operate a mainly closed herd, breeding their replacements and selling surplus heifers.

Most of the cows are inseminated with sexed semen and calf down around 30 months.  The remainder are done with beef semen.

Scott doesn't stick to one AI supplier; he likes to shop around and buy the best bulls at the time. Holstein bulls in the tank include Westcoast Alma Mater and Cogent Beemerange. The Friesian bull Inch Mint is used on more extreme cows.

Scott says the Ayrshire bull that has left the best progeny is Palmyra Tri-Star Burdette. He has left great cows that have bred well and whose daughters have also bred well.

The Angus bull is used to “sweep up” along with INRA95. This composite breed of cattle has quietly started to cause a stir in sale rings across the country since its introduction to the UK around four years ago.

It was developed specifically for beef on dairy, emphasising ease of calving, rapid early growth, and hindquarter muscularity. It is proving to be a hit in UK markets, prompting early users to return to the breed.

Scott praises the breed’s easy calving and says they ‘come out on the small side’ but has never had to pull an INRA95 calf.

Scott says though, his favourite is still the Ayrshire breed, because it has a "bit of a fight to it. Milk production is good, and it can look after itself." He adds that Ayrshire also seems to last longer than other breeds, with a higher percentage of older Ayrshire cows in the herd compared to the black and white. He speaks of one senior cow in particular, which is also his favourite, Sandyford Quarter Pansy, bought in 2017 and due her 9th calf in June.

When Scott studies cow families, he looks for decent type, good fat and protein, good feet and legs, and a well-attached udder. He also looks for negative stature, positive chest traits, and good fertility. In an ideal world, Scott says he would buy all sexed semen. However, if he finds a bull with the right traits and it's only available conventionally, that won't stop him, particularly since there are not so many sexed Ayrshire bulls around.

When calves are born, they receive two good feeds of colostrum within the first 24 hours, the amount of which is determined by the weight and size of the calf. Calves are kept on colostrum for four days before transitioning to milk. Heifer calves are reared on powdered milk, while bull calves and beef crosses are fed on whole milk. Heifers are kept in individual pens and bucket-fed, while the rest are separated into groups of five and fed with a five-bar teat feeder.  

 Scott attributes a lot of what he has learnt to joining the Ayrshire Young Breeders Society. He says: “I got started showing Ayrshire cows through the society and have picked up little bits and pieces along the way”.  

His most significant achievement was winning the Hugh Stevenson award in 2023, which took him on an Ayrshire Breeders youth tour to Australia. In 2022 he travelled to South Africa and New Zealand, where he was clipping for national shows. Scott says his contacts at home and abroad have proved invaluable to him.

He pays particular homage to James and David Lawrie, from Cuthill Towers at Milnathort, who took him under their wing and helped him. He says there are no local shows in the area with dairy classes, so he has to travel much further afield. That includes exhibiting at the Royal Highland Show for the past three years, where he has been placed first in his class, had a second prize and a few thirds.  

While Scott is busy with the dairy, Gordon and Craig concentrate on the beef enterprise, fattening up to 1800 store cattle a year.

Most of the cattle are bought in, and along with their own bull calves and beef crosses, they are taken through to fat. Everything is fed on silage, along with a 34% protein blend of barley and biscuit meal.

Some finished cattle are sold through Scotbeef, but the bulk goes to McIntosh Donald at Port Lethan on a Morrison's contract. On average, 34 cattle per week, weighing between 360kg and 420kg, are sold.  

The deadweight price is 640ppk for continentals and 660ppk for Aberdeen Angus, which Gordon says is a fantastic price and hopes will continue.

The family also buys in and fattens 500 feeding lambs sold at the Thainstone market or deadweight to Woodhead at Turiff.

 

First pubished by Scottish Farmer, February 2025

Editor Pat Wilson