Producing good quality silage has become the cornerstone of the sheep enterprise at South Slipperfield in Scottish Borders, which secured first prize in the baled section of the Scottish Grassland Society’s annual competition.
The 1000-acre farm near West Linton, is run by third generation farmers Hamish and Susie Dykes, who competed against entrants from the East, West and North Grassland Societies.
Hamish admits he was pleasantly surprised to come away with a prize, not least because it was his neighbour, Davie Gilchrist who entered the farm.
South Slipperfield, which takes in upland ground including Mendick Hill in the Medwyn-Upper Tweed area, comprises around 700 acres of upland grazing and roughly 300 acres of ploughable land, rising from 700-1500ft, with the steading sitting at about 900ft. The farm was bought in the 1950s by Hamish’s grandfather, Robert, with Hamish’s parents, John and Kate, moving there in the late 1960s. Kate remains a partner in the business.
Hamish and Susie moved into the farmhouse in 2004 when daughter Rosie was born; she is now a police officer, while son Murdo, born in 2006, is on his second silage season with a contractor in New Zealand. Local employee Logan Mackay, who’s 21, with a keen interest in sheep, completes the team.
The late John Dykes built up an award-winning herd of more than 250 spring-calving suckler cows, including the Mendick herd of pedigree Simmentals, alongside a stratified flock of around 700 ewes – Blackfaces, Mules and Texel/Mules – using his own pedigree Bluefaced Leicester flock to breed Mule ewes. All sheep were wintered outside with significant levels of bought-in concentrates, while cattle were housed.
That pattern has now been turned on its head. Today, sheep are wintered indoors but lamb outside from around April 10; the suckler cows live out all year round and the farm does bed and breakfast for1500 piglets and turns out around 170 store cattle.
In previous years, pit silage was taken for the cows, with the emphasis on bulk rather than quality, as the sucklers did not need top-spec forage. Occasional opportunities for baled silage helped supplement the ewes, but the flock still depended heavily on cake.
Increasing doubts over the profitability of the suckler herd, especially after decoupling, led to the sale of more than 100 cows with calves at foot in 2008. In 2018 the remaining herd was dispersed, leaving just 14 homebred Hereford-cross heifers. Those heifers – some of which remain on the farm – formed the basis of today’s small 15-cow suckler enterprise which must earn their keep.
The herd lives out all year on zero concentrates, nursing calves for 10-11 months. In winter they help cultivate land destined for cropping and conveniently use up any silage that does not meet sheep spec.
When the cows were sold, Hamish did his sums and decided to adapt the sheds for pigs. The business now runs a B&B unit for 1500 four-week-old, newly weaned piglets weighing 8kg, with Susie overseeing daily care.
The pigs, from a farm in Elgin, stay for seven weeks, before moving south to another fattening unit. A two-week turnaround to muck out, wash and disinfect, follows before the next load appears, providing a year round enterprise and guaranteed monthly income.
The pig unit dovetails neatly with the rest of the farm. The family previously relied upon large amounts of hen muck from a local source, but pig dung has proved more beneficial, and in smaller volumes, while saving a fortune on fertiliser.
Purchased straw for bedding produces enough dung to supply all the phosphorus and potash needed for the silage ground, with nitrogen topped up only where necessary.
Around eight years ago, the family looked to restructure their sheep flock. The realisation that a hill breed was not essential for their ground and a desire for a self-contained flock pushed Hamish towards a simpler, more uniform ewe that needed fewer concentrates.
“We stopped buying in Blackie females and phased them and the Mules out, building a new flock on our existing Texel Mules,” he says.
About 300 – all twin-born – replacements are kept each year. Texel crosses go to Lleyn tups; Lleyn cross replacements go to a Romney; and Romney cross replacements to a Texel, bringing the system full circle.
Hamish wanted a stand alone type and a straightforward system. The three breeds – Texel, Lleyn and Romney – mimic a Highlander-type composite, but he retains ‘control of each corner’. The aim is to finish lambs at an average 22kg deadweight through Woodhead Brothers, Turriff.
Apart from tupping and lambing, ewes are run together because their management requirements are so similar. Tups go out in November for no more than 25 days.
Ewe lambs are not mated; first time lambing gimmers go to a terminal sire and mature ewes join the appropriate breed group to produce replacements.
Sheep are housed mid January, resting the grazing so covers can build ahead of lambing.
For the first time, ewes were shorn at housing this year as Hamish believes this will eliminate the need for a summer shear, helping ewes hold condition better and effectively creating more lying space.
The flock is scanned and drafted at the same time. Triplet-bearing ewes are penned separately and receive supplementary cake in a bid to ensure as many ewes as possible are able to rear their three lambs.
From early April, ewes are turned out and spread as thinly as possible across the farm in preparation for lambing. Stocking rate is critical, but Hamish says field size also matters.
He used to lamb 70 ewes in a long 22-acre field and saw drifting and mis-mothering. After splitting the field into three paddocks, he can lamb around 90 ewes in the same combined area with fewer problems, simply because sheep have less scope to wander.
Ewes are not routinely handled or moved during lambing unless there is an issue. Hamish says the ewe type is maternal and, with grass in front of them, will drop a lamb, fill their bellies and then drop the second.
As lambing finishes, female lambs are lug marked by breed group, allowing ewes and lambs to be mixed as needed thereafter.
The workload at lambing has reduced significantly, lambing interventions are minimal and Hamish feels the sheep are healthier and happier outdoors.
The whole outside lambing system, however, hinges on having pasture in top condition — and that depends on resting fields from January to April and feeding high quality silage while sheep are housed.
“To make quality silage, we realised we had to take full control of the job,” he says. “We needed to cut, ted, rake, bale and wrap when it suited us, not wait until contractors were free.”
The Dykes then saw an opportunity to collaborate with a neighbour who was already making his own silage. They bought the equipment he needed and now work together on both farms. South Slipperfield provides mowers and rake, and neighbour, Davie Gilchrist, supplies the baler and wrapper, and they share tedders and trailers. As well as sharing costs, the arrangement effectively doubles the labour, so each operation can be completed quickly.
All fields are targeted to be cut at their optimum growth stage, at the right time of day and within the most suitable weather window.
Grass is typically down for 24-36 hours, depending on conditions and the bales are cleared and stacked within hours of being made. Each farm makes about 1000 bales, keeping the partnership well balanced.
Self sufficiency may not have dramatically cut production costs, but control over timing has a major impact on forage quality and value. Separate bale stacks are individually analysed and then allocated to the livestock group they best suit.
According to judge John Steel, Wynton Farm, Dundee, the silage had a dry matter content of 51.1% – typical of dry baled silage. The D-value was 70.0% and was supported by a high energy content of 11.2 ME and a strong protein level at 15.7%. Predicted intake, at 120% of maximum points, suggests the silage will be sweet, rumen-friendly, and have a neutral pH.
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Hamish always felt the farm benefitted from cattle at grass through the season. They first tried buying in store calves, but volatile prices made margins unpredictable. Grazing store cattle on a contract £/kg basis gave a reasonable margin but depended on cattle being available when needed.
For the past three years they have bought Wagyu cross dairy calves through the Warrendale Wagyu scheme, taking animals at around 200kg liveweight in the autumn. The integrated Warrendale model pays farmers on a transparent price matrix, with fixed prices per kg of liveweight across rearing, growing and finishing stages, helping to reduce market volatility.
On arrival at South Slipperfield, calves go into straw-bedded courts in October and are then moved in December to rented slatted sheds to free up space for the sheep. They are turned out to grass April-May until September-October. By then they are 450-500kg and head back to Warrendale for finishing.
Cattle move directly from farm to farm, keeping haulage costs down whilst also avoiding market commission.
“The more we can do with grass and silage, the better our margins. The success of the Wagyu enterprise, just like the sheep, depends on making the best quality silage we possibly can,” Hamish said.
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