Most Scottish dairy farms have struggled to make ends meet in recent years let alone invest in the future, with the result that many talented young individuals have been lured away from the industry by the prospect of big bucks in other businesses.

Few, if any, relish the thought of a full-time career milking cows 24/7 with very little return – until that is you meet the young Lairds from Blyth Bridge, West Linton.

Admittedly, the family – Alister and Kathleen, son Colin and daughter Ann – are no strangers to the limelight, having notched up numerous breed championships with their prize winning Holsteins from Blyth Bridge, West Linton. However, it is the younger generation, Colin (24) and Ann (23), who are making everyone sit up and take notice now.

Born and brought up with dairy cattle, they’ve had to take on the unsavoury early morning calls to milk cows and feed calves from an extremely young age, but instead of digging in their heels, they’ve revelled in the tasks, to such an extent that working at home full-time has become their vocation.

Colin now assists in the overall running of this 500-cow milking herd, which produces a rolling herd average of 9200kg at 3.98%BF and 3.26%P on a twice daily milking regime, while Ann is in full charge of the calves and assists with the youngstock.

But then, both are blessed with that enviable talent for real stockmanship – obviously handed down over the generations.

In saying that, unlike the older generation, they’ve benefited greatly from being members of Holstein Young Breeders, from a very young age, which they believe has given them added confidence and the ability to bring out show cattle.

As it is, the duo have won at Scottish and National events and have won both the under 12 classes at the YMA/BHS at Stoneleigh and the NHS All Britain showmanship awards and latterly a string of other prestigious calf competitions including the All Breed Calf Show also staged at Stoneleigh, and numerous Scottish Calf Shows.

Colin has also twice won the overall showmanship competition at the National Holstein Show while Ann lifted the overall showmanship title at the 2009 International Dairy Show in Australia.

They also make a formidable team with other talented Holstein young breeders in national events. Just last year, Colin and Ann, along with Mark Guthrie, Amy Weatherup, Alan and Andrew Neilson and Caroline Currie, made up the winning Scotland South team that went on to scoop the coveted top team trophy at the All Britain All Breeds Calf Show, at Stoneleigh.

Not suprisingly, both are in constant demand to bring out show animals for many noted dairy units at national shows and sales throughout the country.

They have a keen eye for stock too. While Alister picked out the show cows, Altona Lee Broker Emma Ex96 and Bondvale Broker Natasha Ex96, to buy, Colin was keen to purchase a share of the business’ other top show female, Almondene Whitney, which like her two bought in herd mates, has won at the Highland Show.

Not to be outdone, Ann made her presence felt at Agriscot last year too, when having bought her sole Ayrshire cow, Barr Ranger Lottie Ex95-2-7yr, at Alex Kirkpatrick’s dispersal sale at Carlisle, in partnership with her grand-father Colin, she then brought this big red cow out to win not only the Ayrshire cow championship but also the coveted supercow title.

To date, the real icing on the cake for Colin though has been winning the Holstein Young Breeders President’s Medal – the highest accolade for an HYB, at the recent Semex Conference in Glasgow, which will take him on an all expenses trip to Canada, in November, to view some of the best dairy cattle.

Yet despite the glory, our Colin has no aspirations to live and work abroad.

“Dairy farming is a way of life, and to be honest I wouldn’t want to do anything else other than work at home with dairy cattle,” said Colin who has clipped cows throughout much of the UK, Canada, America, Spain and Ireland and at the beginning of this month, also turned out the overall Spanish champion in Galicia.

Backing up these statements, Ann, who was Dux at Edinburgh Scottish Agricultural College having attained a BSc Honours Degree in Animal Science, last year, said: “Our cows are our hobby, our family and our home. I just love looking after them and bringing out the best in them.”

Read more in the March 20 issue of The Scottish Farmer