East Logan's Scottish silage winners 2020 tell all ...

With a herd of 300 pedigree Holstein cows (including dry cows), and around 320-head of youngstock, calving all year round, their set up at East Logan, Castle Douglas, is a busy one.

They milk three times a day, and they are firm believers in the idea that it is what you put into your herd that gets you results out of them – and they have certainly had good results.

East Logan encompasses 365 acres, and they grow 200 acres of silage for the first two cuts, 150 for the third, and 130 acres for the fourth – give or take, 600 acres a year, as well as 70 acres of wholecrop.

Keeping the good quality silage within reach of the cows is key to good yields Ref:RH030321500 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

They have also just taken on a new farm – Milton Of Buittle – milking another 150. Already a dairy set up, they have just carried on there as it was. They have bought 180 acres, with 40 more rented.

“It’s basically running as a flying herd,” explained Michael, “everything on the new farm will be served to beef semen, and the plan is to sell all the calves straight away.

“All replacements for the new farm will come from East Logan. The reasoning is that it saves us having to worry about market value of heifers because the plan is to milk them all and get their full potential. In effect, it closes the circle of our set up!”

Michael works in partnership with Brian and his mum, Sheila. Michael’s wife Emma and children Alice (two) and Austin (nine months) also live at the farm.

the cows go throught a 20:40 swing over parlour three times a day Ref:RH030321535 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

In 2006, they took a greenfield site at East Logan and developed a new steading. They built a 20:40 swing over parlour, alongside a slurry tower capable of holding 450,000 gallons – and both have more than proved their worth.

Michael explained: “Back in 2012, we received a grant through the Scottish Rural Development Programme to help us build a youngstock shed, which can hold all our stock from eight weeks old, right through until they have calved.

“It also let us build a new covered silage pit. All our pits are indoor and covered – even on the new farm, we have got that facility.”

Michael and Brian believe this makes a big difference, with no rain on the silage face meaning no fluctuation in the dry matter – something they think helps the cows.

Covered pits have helped the Yates achieve better quality and consistency of silage Ref:RH030321512 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“These additions to the steading have made a big difference to the way our steading works. Apart from anything, they have cut the amount of time spent on manual labour, which is obviously a help,” said Brian.

“Instead of spending two and half hours scraping sheds, we can put two loads of feed in the shed in the morning and scrape the slats – and it all takes half an hour.

The Keenan feed wagon helps with the consistency of silage ration for the herd Ref:RH030321509 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“It is also much easier for moving cattle and better for herd health and comfort, as ventilation runs as well as it possibly can.

“Covered pits have helped us achieve better quality and consistency of silage, which are very important elements when it comes to getting good quality forage into your stock.”

And quality forage is indeed something that they seem to have. The Yates’ are quite used to winning silverware in the show ring, but it is their silage that has taken the first win of 2021.

Their entry took the Stewartry County and then the South West Scotland Grassland Society (SWSGS) forage competition prize, and has this week been announced as the national winner!

Their entry had impressive statistics – dry matter of 39.1%, crude protein of 15.8% and overall digestibility value of 75.8.

some of the prizewinning silage that was from first cut in May Ref:RH030321510 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

The Yates’ have certainly put the effort into their silage, something they wholly admit has seen some trial and error over the years.

Brian said: “We’ve got all our own machinery for the silage job now, which has been an investment, but it makes such a difference.

“It just means that if the good weather comes, we can go when we want to, we’re not sitting waiting for contractors or the likes, and it cuts down the risk of watching silage waste in the field.

“In the last few years, it’s paid dividends because the good weather is in such small windows. We have also started cutting that bit earlier, and more often. I think it’s all helped.”

The youngstock shed at East Logan contains a bubble system which collects slurry from the cow shed and mixes it 12 hours-a-day.

The Yates’ believe that this constant mixing has ensured a consistency in slurry which makes it far more efficient for spreading on fields, cutting down the reliance on bought-in fertiliser.

They apply 3000 gallon an acre of slurry before their first and second cuts.

Michael said: “We now use 60 units of fertiliser on first and second cut silage and purely slurry for third-cut and forth.

Some of the milk cows tucking into their mid morning snack before the next milking starts Ref:RH030321502 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“Since we installed the new slurry system in 2014, it’s saved us thousands in fertiliser costs. We also installed a biomass boiler, which has helped lower fuel costs, and we’ve also invested in our own dribble bar umbilical system, so again, slurry can go on when it needs to – again, no waiting!”

Michael explained that they have learnt a few things over the many silage seasons. He said: “You’ll not see us out at breakfast time, cutting silage. We try not to cut before lunchtime to make sure all the sugars are in the grass.

“We also know that we don’t want it down on the ground too long – 30 hours is the optimum, we feel. We put 18kg of water per cow into their silage so we want to keep that consistency in the mix.”

Brian and Michael send their milk to Arla. The pair try and get cows to last for five lactations and Michael says they are selective with which ones they keep in the herd.

“Cows have to be performing well to earn their spot in a cubicle. We aim to breed well-balanced cows.”

Feed-wise, milking cows all get the same ration, and all stock are fed TMR from eight or nine months old.

Michael continued: “The youngstock diet is basically silage and a bit of maize gluten – nothing too technical.

“Any scraping out from the cows goes into the youngstock’s load, so there’s no waste.”

The switch to three times-a-day milking has brought its own benefits, they think.

Michael says it has boosted yields and herd health: “I’d say we’re getting an extra three to four litres out of cows. Probably the main thing is that they are more comfortable and less stressed. Heifers which have always been milked three times daily are far healthier and more youthful as cows, and cases of mastitis have gone down too.”

The team aim to be as efficient as possible and have made considerable investment in recent years to try and achieve this.

Michael explained: “Our main objective is to get as much milk from home-grown forage as we possibly can, so the quality of the forage has to be strong, and our cow management has to be spot on.”

Yield-wise, herd average is 11,500 litres at 4.15% butterfat and 3.40% protein, with a cell count of about 100.

Young stock munching some of the good quality silage Ref:RH030321518 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

Replacement heifers are home-bred for the most part, with the odd few bought-in, with the show-ring in mind.

Cows and heifers are all AI’d to sexed semen, with a calving index of 405 days – 50% of cows are in-calf by 100 days, and only 7% are not in-calf by the 200 day mark. 50% of the cows go to beef semen, to keep costs down.

As far as the show ring is concerned, the Yates name is well engrained on the trophies of the local show circuit, but the last ten to fifteen years has seen them achieve great success on a national level.

In 2006, home-bred Logan Outside Roxy secured the inter-breed dairy championship at the Royal Highland Show and reserve supreme at the National Holstein Show.

Michael said: “That was the first cow to give us any really big wins, she did great for us.”

After that, two bought-in females did well. Dilandy Debonair Tabitha Red, shared with the Lawrie family, was Super Cow at Agriscot in 2012 and inter-breed champion at the Highland in 2014. Similarly, Kellywell Marshall Brooke, bought privately as a milking heifer, won the Queen’s Cup at the Royal Highland Show in 2013.

The team also won Super Heifer at AgriScot in 2017 with Eastford Atomium Kiwi Red, owned with the Lawrie family.

In 2019 their heifer Logan Estate Jazz was Super Heifer at AgriScot, and they won the Red and White heifers at the same event that year, with Rockset Integral Rae Red from the Eastford prefix.

Logan Estate Jazz also did well at the only show of 2020, taking the intermediate champion ticket at the UK Dairy Expo Show, last March.

“The plan was to take her to the Highland, and the Welsh, and all those shows,” admitted Michael, but 2020 obviously had other plans for us all!”

Brian and Michael admit that show success is great, but it is all the hard work that goes in at home that makes a business.

Nutrition has a big part to play in their whole set up – calving, cow health, milk yields, showing – nutrition is always involved, so good silage is always key!

Michael added: “We should never underestimate the three days at first cut and second cut as they can be the most important days in the farming calendar. Making top quality forage means you can have a profitable year farming.”