THE progress of a family farm near Hawick trying to improve its efficiency and profitability as part of a monitor farm programme will be highlighted during an open day they are hosting on Wednesday, July 11.

Whitriggs Farm, near Denholm, was announced as a monitor farm in December, 2016. Eighteen months later and now half way through the three-year programme, it is opening its gates to let anyone with an interest in livestock farming learn more about what the farmers have been doing so far to improve the management of the business. 

At the event on July 11, which is free to attend and open to all, the Mitchells will highlight the changes they have made to their business so far and their plans for the next 18 months. Together with neighbouring Denholm Hill Farm, the Mitchell family own 442 hectares of mainly semi-permanent and permanent grassland and grow approximately 40 hectares of winter wheat and oats for feeding their stock. 

The family have 155 suckler cows which are a combination of Beef Shorthorn cross and Aberdeen-Angus crossed. In the last year, the family successfully introduced sycronisation and AI and have reduced their calving period down to just six weeks.

Also at the meeting, the Mitchells will give an progress report on the health of the 1000-ewe Lleyn flock at Whitriggs. After discovering that some of their ewes tested positive for Maedi Visna (MV) last year, the family now manage the flock in two separate locations in an attempt to keep the disease from spreading. At the meeting next week, Andrew Robinson from Hawick Vet Practice will explain the various MV testing options available to help the family manage the flock in the future.

An important part of the monitor farm programme is the use of farm benchmarking to compare the financial performance of different businesses in order to identify areas for potential improvement. At the open day, the family will share the results of the benchmarking exercise they recently conducted and explain how they intend to use that information going forward to improve their business.

Over the last year and a half, the Mitchell family have hosted nine meetings and have welcomed more than 50 people to each of their events. The monitor farm has addressed subjects including cattle management, flock health and grazing strategies, all of which have been selected by the management group made up of local farmers.

Whitriggs farm is one of nine monitor farms established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds with funding from the Scottish Government. The aim of the monitor farm programme is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The meeting on July 11, which will be held at Whitriggs Farm, near Denholm, is due to begin at 2pm and is expected to end at 5pm. Attendees are then invited to stay on for a BBQ. To book your attendance (and place at the BBQ) please contact Stephen Young, one of the project facilitators, on 07502 339613 or email stephen.young@saos.coop.