Interest in Buitelaar and Morrison’s Supermarket’s Dairy Beef Scheme which is renowned for producing quality red meat, has soared over the past year and is proving to be a particularly beneficial decision for Turriff-based farmer, David Delday.
Second-generation beef farmer, Davie, has resided at Inchgreen for 55 years, following it’s purchase in 1966 by his father, Bill – and is now also home to his wife Shona and their family, Jill, Mark and Stevie. Comprising some 550 acres of arable crop and grassland as well as a herd of 180 cattle, Davie has recently welcomed a new venture on the farm, which he believes will change the face of beef finishing farms for the better.
“I remember sitting around the kitchen table, nine years ago, talking to Woodhead Bros’ Michael Wilson about why the Dairy Beef Scheme wasn’t being expanded across farms in Scotland, as around 40 years ago, the North-east was full of dairy cross calves being brought up from England,” stated Davie.
“My thinking behind being the first Scottish farmer to sign up was that the earlier I got involved, the easier it was to partake and find out if it was worth continuing with in the future.”
Following its success across beef farms in England and Wales since its establishment in 2013, Buitelaar and Morrison’s expanded it’s scheme into Scotland, having delivered the first batch of 70 reared British Blue calves to Inchgreen Farm on November 18, 2020.
“After witnessing the demand for dairy beef calves South of the border, I was extremely keen to push the scheme into Scotland and – being in charge of land and cattle buying for the Turriff area – I was able to visit Davie and speak to him about the benefits that the Dairy Beef Scheme had to offer his business,” commented Michael Wilson, buying manager for Turriff-based abattoir, Woodhead Bros, which is owned by Morrison’s.
“The main benefits of the scheme is the free finance guarantee, as well as a consistent batch of healthy calves being delivered straight onto the farm in one go. Beforehand, Davie had been buying bog standard store cattle through the live ring,” Michael explained.
Almost a year on and having been hugely impressed with the quality of dairy beef calves arriving, Davie has welcomed his second batch of 70 British Blue-sired calves onto the farm. Now up to 140 such calves on farm, his son, Mark, has also joined the scheme with 50 on his unit, with other farmers coming forward looking to get involved.
“We encouraged farmers to come to Inchgreen to see the calves and what they could do, so there is a lot of interest,” stated Michael. “In the first three years, I wanted to distribute 150 calves per month to North-east farmers, in order to increase throughput for the Turriff factory specifically and having only started the scheme in Scotland in February of this year, we now have around 900 calves spread over six farms across the North-east and are hitting our target of distributing between 100 and 150 calves per month,” he added.
With the scheme’s calves all sourced from English farms and batch orders made three months in advance, Buitelaar ensures their calves are of the highest quality before being transported onto finishing units.
“On leaving a rearing unit, calves need to meet specifications and have to be clinically healthy but also go on and perform,” stated Buitelaar’s livestock business development manager, Gabby Emery.
“Whilst on the rearing units, calves are fed a 17% protein rearing blend – in the form of pellets – and have to achieve daily liveweight gains (DLWG) of 700g per day in order to be moved onto a finishing unit,” she added.
As well as achieving correct DLWG goals, Buitelaar also ensure that their calves retain a high health status upon arrival following an intensive vaccination and health programme.
“All calves on rearing units are vaccinated twice for pneumonia, which gives them a total of six months cover, with three months of cover by the time they reach the finishing unit. They also receive a Bovilis IBR Marker Live vaccine, as well as being tested and cleared for BVD, de-horned and castrated,” explained Gabby.
“Our goal is to ensure that our finishing units are working with a quality product that will achieve a good price at at the end of the process – it’s a fairly simple equation but not always the easiest to get right.
“With a good support network and tech team readily available on both the rearing and finishing units, and with the scheme really taking off over the past five years, we are now turning over 50,000 calves per year through our collection centres, with 25,000 of those calves being reared in house on rearing units,” said Gabby.
With a healthy underwritten price already agreed between Morrison’s and the finishing unit, the dairy beef calves appear to be proving a sustainable long-term option for Davie’s beef enterprise.
“The calves are very canny and quick growing compared to other cattle, and we are hoping to build up our herd number to 200 over the next few years,” said Davie.
“The price agreed for the first batch of calves was set at £542 per head for 70 in total, which included the cost of delivery by Woodhead Bros directly to the farm and no interest was applied to the loan. When the calves are sent away to Woodhead Bros, the abattoir takes £542 off every animal killed, with no commission being taken and I receive the remaining income.”
Calves can be taken at any time of the year, with Davie’s recent batch of calves arriving to Inchgreen in June, at four-month of age and an average weight of 160kg.
“With the first batch of calves almost at the end of their stay here, it’s looking like a turnaround time of just under a year. I’m hoping to have the first batch off the farm aged 16 and a half-months-old and with a 340kg carcase weight,” he explained.
All Davie’s calves are reared indoors and are started on a similar diet to the one fed on the rearer units, specifically 1kg per day of Harbro rearer nuts in order to help reduce stress whilst in a new environment. They are then moved onto a silage and TMR concentrate blend, comprising home-grown barley and Norvite’s Prime Beef 4 blend. As the calves grow, the concentrate mix is increased to help DLWG before the quantity of PB4 reduced gradually and amount of barley increased.
“On June 5, the calves, aged eight-month-old, were receiving an average of 1.05 pounds of concentrate per day, which has now been increased to two pounds per day beginning on August 1, as well as being offered some home-grown silage and straw,” Davie commented.
“At eight-months, the calves were gaining 1.2kg per day, which increased to 1.34kg per day at 12-months-old. The growth rate is phenomenal.”
Out with the dairy beef scheme, Davie also manages a herd of 180 cows, predominantly Stabiliser crosses that are put back to a Stabiliser bull.
“Before Stabilisers, I was producing mainly Hereford cross calves, which were sold last year at 18-months-old to average £1550, at 390kg deadweight. They were nice calves that were achieving good R grades but not U grades.
“We moved to a Stabiliser bull primarily for its easy calving traits – I want a cow that requires little intervention and produces a vigorous and quick finishing calf at the other end. They are also easy managed and have a fantastic mothering ability,” Davie stated.
“Bulls are bought through local sources and I aim to have bulls sold through Woodhead Bros, Turriff for bull beef at 14-months-old, in order to meet the premium of 10p more for the breed,” he added.
Commenting on the popularity of the scheme, Davie concluded: “I think Scottish beef producers will certainly be interested in the Dairy Beef scheme.
“I’ve had no issues with the scheme and there’s the added benefit that I don’t have a cow to keep but I get the same outcome. It is early days, however, with the promise of an underwritten price and good calves on offer, there’s no reason why the scheme can’t work for others.”
If you are interested in joining the scheme, please contact Michael Wilson on: 07581412433 or Michael.wilson@morrisonsplc.co.uk
FARMfacts
Farm – Inchgreen comprises 550 acres of arable and grassland, producing 100 silage/forage straw for bedding.
Crops – Oilseed rape, winter barley, malting barley and winter wheat.
Feeding – Prime Beef 4 bought from Norvite and all barley and silage is produced at home.
Marketing – All cattle sold through Woodhead Bros, Turriff.
Calves – Dairy beef sourced through Buitelaar and delivered straight from the rearing units to Inchgreen.
ONTHEspot
Biggest achievement: Between 1990 and 2015, we bought around 400 acres, which we've still got today and almost paid off so that's a fair achievement for us!
Favourite breed of cattle: I'd have to say the Stabiliser because they are quiet, easy to work with and pretty much get on with the job of calving themselves.
Best investment: Buying land in the 90s and early 2000's.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here