Boclair wins the big one

Regular winners in the Scottish herds competition, the family also scooped the reserve in the UK Premier Herd in 2011 and achieved the honour of winning a Master Breeder award both in 2005 and 2016.

Last year’s monumental win was nevertheless, the first time the boys had achieved the big one, and as a result has led to the family having an open day on farm, on Thursday June, 28, when all are welcome.

“Winning the UK Premier Pedigree herd is a tremendous accolade for a breeder to win as it is based purely on cow conformation. It was always Dad’s dream to win it and as a breeder it has always been my lifetime’s ambition,” said David, adding that the competition was judged by the previous year’s winner, Andrew Birkle of the Whinchat herd, who had been most impressed by the uniformity of the herd.

In contrast to many leading pedigree herds, much of the top breeding at Boclair has been based on home-bred bulls bred from leading cow families over the years.

One of those star breeders in the early days was the Prelude son, Boclair Objective, with many of his daughters in the past having been bred to sons from the Hope family, which includes Boclair Sid Hope Ex93, the reserve winner at the Highland Show in 2016 and 2017; Boclair Golden Elegance Ex95, a cow that scooped an honourable mention at the UK Dairy Day, and BG Royalty, which will hopefully turn Excellent producing a 17th consecutive Excellent classification.

“Our heifers need to be able to fit into commercial farming systems, therefore we aim to breed medium size cows with good wide chests, rib and cows that can walk with good feet and legs. Most importantly, we look to breed heifers with an udder that will last and females with teat placement suitable for milking," David said.

Selling 75-100 milking heifers a year, either privately or through Harrison and Hetherington’s Borderway Mart at Carlisle, the boys have also been using high type sexed semen with good PLI’s as a priority.

They are currently using Worldwide Sires Mating Programme which includes the Casper, Pharo, Stantons Chief and Kings-Doc David added: “Genomics are probably the biggest positive influence on the dairy industry since the introduction of artificial insemination as the figures appear pretty accurate.

“We’re also testing the top end of our heifers, which we might look to flush in future years.”

Boclair cows are not just typey, model cows, they’re also pretty milky with it too, boasting a rolling annual herd average of 13,500kg at 3.66%BF and 3.22%P, with a calving interval of 404 days and somatic cell counts <100, when milked through four Lely astronaut robotic milking machines.

Just as notable is the fact that heifers from the Boclair herd which now numbers 230 cows, calve at 25-26months of age, with the best heifers now producing in excess of 15,500kg and cows at 19,000kg.

This compares to the previous herd averages of 10,500kg at 3.85%BF and 3.1%P, with a calving interval of 425 days, when the cows were milked twice a day through a herringbone parlour, at the end of 2015.

“We were spending three hours a day, twice a day, milking cows, so the introduction of robots freed up so much more time to concentrate on other aspects of cow health and farm management,” said David.

The robots, which were installed in February, 2016, not only saved time but also led to increased milk yields, improved udder health and overall cow fertility.

“Depending on the stage of lactation, cows can access the robot anywhere from two to five times a day, so milk yields have increased. I still can’t believe the yields we are getting as we’re now regularly seeing cows giving up to 80kg per day and heifers hitting 55kg.

“Last year our top average daily herd yield was 47kg per head. Fertility has also improved with the result so too has our calving interval.”

First service is from 45 days, of which 33% will hold, with conception rates in general standing at 38%.

Working with Keenan’s Intouch system, has also seen feed conversion efficiency levels improve from 1.5 in 2010 to 1.8 last month, with every litre produced leaving an extra 1.86p compared to the same figures eight years ago.

David added: “It’s easy to take your eye of the ball on a busy farm and the Intouch system is easy to use – I wouldn’t be without it.”

Milking cows and heifers are now all kept in the one group and fed a TMR for maintenance +20litres, as David has found that feeding anymore than this results in the cows visiting the robot less often.

This diet comprises homegrown bruised barley; grass silage, dark grains, beet pulp, protected rapemeal, minerals, the protected fat, milk power and straw.

An 18% protein concentrate is fed in the robot according to yield with a maximum of 3kg at any one milking.

Drying off milking cows has always been one of the most important aspects of herd management at Boclair, to ensure optimum health, fertility and future milk yields, with the result that the amount of concentrate feed and milking frequency of such animals is gradually scaled back to a level that individuals are milked just once a day for the final three days.

They also have their feet trimmed at this stage and are supplied with just fresh, clean water and straw, for calving seven to eight weeks later.

Teats are sealed after three days with sealant, with those with higher cell counts receiving dry cow therapy tubes. From there on, they receive a mix of mostly straw and silage.

Three weeks before calving, dry cows are housed on straw, and fed 3kg of Translac Advance supplied by ForFarmers mixed with the grass and straw ration. Vulnerable cows are also given an energy bolus prior to calving.

“Translac Advance contains zeolite, a mineral that binds up the calcium and other cations within the cow’s digestive system, before it can enter the bloodstream.

"Since we started using it, we are now less concerned about the calcium and potassium contents of our forages, as our fresh cows no longer have problems with milk fever or retained placentas, even at greater levels of milk output.

"Our cows also start up better with many producing 50kg a week after calving,” explained David.

Immediately after calving, concentrate levels are increased slowly for the first month and include glyco, a glucose drink. Calved cows join the milking herd three days post calving, and are housed in the same cow shed.

In contrast to straw bedding however, the milking unit is kitted out with cubicles and water beds, which since their introduction, has seen reduced hock damage.

Rubber mats have also been put down along the feed passage to reduce slippage, with ventilation and lighting improved through the installation of a clear central ridge on the shed roof.

The Brewsters have also found the use of a semi-circular indented head bars over the cubicles is resulting in cleaner cows as they tend to lie straighter in the middle of the cubicles, thereby defacating straight into the slats and not onto the mats or mattresses.

Calves are fed milk throughout in buckets, with concentrates and straw introduced virtually from day one with weaning taking place at 10 weeks of age. Beef calves and any bulls calves are sold privately.

With the farm comprising 850acres of which 450 are arable and remainder used for grazing and to take three cuts of top quality silage, the brothers rely a three other full-time staff to include Eric Yuill, John Gray and Matthew Ralston.

David Gray is on hand to help bring out and show any cows at major dairy events up and down the country and to trim all feet, while Robbie Duncan of Quest Farm Supplies provides invaluable advice on the nutritional needs of the cows.

So, if you are looking for a good dairy day out, Boclair Farm, Bearsden, Glasgow, is the place to be on June 28 from 10am onwards, where David and John and families look forward to welcoming you.

All going well, the boys' father and mother, Jack and Marion Brewster will be in attendance too ...