NUMBERS OF both dairy cows and herds have decreased in Scotland, according to the latest statistics released by the Scottish Dairy Cattle Association.

On January 1, 2020, the association registered a net loss of 12 herds and 1048 less cows compared to January 2019, with a total of 879 herds comprising 178,490 milking cows. The average Scottish herd size continues to rise, now standing at 203, up two head on the year, and the highest on record.

Within these stats, there were 27 lost herds and 15 new ones. Aberdeen lost two herds whilst Lanarkshire and Wigtownshire showed a net loss of three and four respectively. In contrast, Ayrshire saw a net increase of three dairy herds over the year.

Officially milk recorded cows account for over 70% of the population, with an average herd size of 215 cows, but there was also a sizeable increase in somatic cell count monitoring and disease testing especially for Johne's, following the introduction of the National Johne's Management Plan, with milk buyers, farmers and industry partners all apparently realising the financial benefits of improving milk quality and disease awareness.

More and more herds are using the milk test for pregnancy checks, which incurs no stress to the cows and is giving good results.

Commenting, SDCA secretary Janette Mathie said: “2019 saw a lot of uncertainty for some dairy farmers within Scotland but many others have made the commitment to make dairying their future and for the generations that follow."

The SDCA stats noted that, back in 1903 when records began, there were 5735 dairy herds in Scotland.