IT takes a lot of hard work, grit determination and ability to make any sort of a living from the land and it is 10 times more difficult as a female working in a male dominated profession which throws criticism your direction at the drop of a hat. 
But, think on… how many of you were able to make a £50,000 nett profit from a 75-cow dairy unit last year?
While these figures are not colossal, when you consider the farm comprises of 100 acres with a further 85 acres rented and the farmer involved has been slowly but surely investing in the business with no outside financial assistance, and Roberta Dunbar is certainly doing something right.
She might not have the most state-of-the-art dairy unit at Cromlet, Airdrie, but her Barncluth Friesian herd – built up over the past two decades from scratch – is not only making money, but also winning awards. 
Last year, in what was the first year Roberta and her partner, Gordon Smith, had entered the British Friesian herds’ competition, they not only won the award for the best heifer, but also the title for the second prize home-bred cow in the 50-tonne class, with their herd standing third in the overall.
Best heifer was the Deangate Quentin daughter, Barncluth Quentin Annabel, which is projected to give 7500 litres in her first at 4.16% BF and 3.26% P.
It was another Annabel that picked up the second prize award in the cows – Barncluth Annabel 16, which produced well in excess of 70 tonnes of milk at 4.26% BF and 3.37% P up to her seventh and is currently in her eighth.
Best of it was, Roberta, or Bertie as she is better known, only entered the competition as she was so fed up being told she was ‘a stupid girl and shouldn’t be farming.’
Furthermore, while the herd is registered, the cattle have only been classified over the past couple of years and already boasts at least 12 Excellent classified and several VG cows.
“It’s so frustrating when so many farmers don’t think females are up to the job,” said Bertie.
“I’ve been farming here for 30 years, of which 22 have been on my own, without dad, and I’ve always had some sort of a mortgage hanging over me or had to pay out someone from the farm. 
“It’s ok for those who inherited a farm and all the stock that goes with it, but I had to buy out everyone and build up the business from scratch without any financial assistance. But we are getting there,” she added, pointing out that in the early days, all cows were tied up in a byre and mucked out by hand.
Despite the difficulties, she has been able to increase herd numbers from 35 in the mid-1980s to the current 75 – all from home-bred replacements – construct a cubicle shed to house them and a massive slurry store, all without grant aid.
They also purchased a second hand herringbone parlour at the end of 2015 for the tidy sum of £5000 which was fitted and milking the cows four months later.
“We’ve always had a mortgage of some sort hanging over us, but last year we made a profit of £50,000 before depreciation and this year we are looking at a nett profit of £50,000,” added Bertie.
It was Bertie who instigated the introduction of the British Friesian, all those years ago at Cromlet too.
Until 1987, the family farm – owned by the late James and Primrose Dunbar – comprised of just 100 acres and 35 black and white unregistered cows, with the first Friesian purchased being the stock bull, Standalane Almond, or Nuts as Bertie called him.
Farming was never an option for Bertie, or her sister Primrose, in the early days though, despite the fact both were desperate to work on the farm. 
Instead, they were pushed into going to college/university to further their education, which didn’t last long as Prim went on to be an auctioneer with United Auctions (now with Lawrie and Symington), and Roberta, while training to become a home economics teacher, managed to ‘slip through the net’ to work at home when their father was unwell.
“All I wanted to do was farm, but I always came home from college and was straight out to the farm,” said Bertie, who as a result not only ended up not only doing the morning and evening milking at home but also working for UA between 9am and 4pm at the same time.
She has been a fan of the Friesian breed from day one too. “I never liked Holsteins as they just weren’t suited to the ground here. We have heavy, clay ground, so we need cows that will work and milk well off grass and Friesians certainly do,” she said.
“Everyone thinks Friesians are wee cows, but our cows are of a good size and they can milk. Before I took over the running of the farm, the herd was averaging 5500-6000kg per cow per year, but my girls are giving 7500kg now at 4.3% BF and 3.43% P with a 388-day calving interval. 
“Fertility is never a problem either and they last forever, with most averaging seven lactations. We’ve got one cow we call the motorbike as she’s in her 13th lactation and she’ll let every calf have a sook.”
Admittedly, that old dear remains close to home but the remainder of the milkers are at grass as much as possible. Normally, they get out to grass from the end of April onwards, but much depends on the weather.
“Friesians are foraging cows and my girls can be in and out of the shed all year – they don’t mind a bit of rain or wet grass,” Bertie said, adding that as much as 34.7kg of milk per cow is produced from grass and sold through a Tesco contract.
There is no fancy feed regime at Cromlet either, with a Davidsons cake fed in the parlour only according to yield. Cows have access to ad-lib ‘rocket fuel’ silage produced from two cuts.
It’s the calves that really add value to this commercial unit though, with the mixture of 50:50 dairy and beef calves selling well. While the majority of Friesian heifers are retained, Friesian bullocks are either sold at six weeks at £160-£190 per head, or as yearlings. 
This compares to the beef calves, most of which are Limousin, with six-week old heifers making £380-£400, with their male equivalents at £400. 
Friesian bulls out of the best breeding cows are either sold privately or retained for breeding, with many lasting for years – she gets regular feedback from committed buyers who can even then sell them on to secondary buyers.
“I look to use black bulls with good feet and legs, figures for milk speed and calving ease,” she added, pointing out that 60+% of the cows hold to first service at 55 days.
Roberta is not finished yet either as she aims to expand to 75-80 cows and ‘do the job right.’ That is, of course, if she’s got any time in between milking, attending to the farm, the house, Gordon and of course their young son, James. 
There’s also the couple’s holiday caravan to manage and its associated hot tub, which attracts all manner of tourists! You are of course more than welcome to visit the Barncluth girls and you might, just might get one of Bertie’s prized scones and home-made jam too!