IMPROVED GRASSLAND management and increased livestock performance have been two of the measurable outcomes from the Monitor Farm programme in Lochaber, which drew to a close last month.

Nestled in the Great Glen, one of Scotland’s most scenic, but also wettest, areas lies Strone Farm, run by Chris Cameron in partnership with his father, Malcolm and mother, Eileen.

The family, who are tenants of Lochiel and Achnacarry Estate, were inspired to become monitor farmers after attending meetings held on two previous monitor farms on Mull and North Connel, Argyll.

Over the course of the last 3½years, the family, supported by the wider community group, has introduced changes to the 1200 ha hill farm business, in response to some of the main challenges that they identified. These include managing a grazing season that sees an annual rainfall of 120 inches and a major problem with predation by foxes at lambing.

Adopting new strategies, that have ultimately helped increase livestock performance, has been one of the main benefits of getting involved in the Monitor Farm Programme, according to Chris Cameron.

Over the three-year programme, he has been able to fine-tune flock and herd management and develop existing grassland management strategies. This has enabled cow numbers to be increased by 25%, whilst lamb weaning percentages have risen from 96% to 103%.

Strone, near Banavie, is one of nine Monitor Farm programmes which will all have drawn to a close over the past few weeks. The programme was established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by QMS and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds, with funding from the Scottish Government.

The aim of the programme was to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

The Camerons run 370 North Country Cheviot cross Lleyns and 150 North Country Cheviot pure ewes, plus 50 Limousin cows and followers.

Looking at how they could reduce their way of wintering costs, and the grazing pressure on some of the other in-bye land over at Inverness, the Camerons were able to take on an extra 41 ha of grassland at Fass Fern, in 2018.

Chris also looked to the Monitor network to ask for ideas on how to manage twin lambs that required creep feeding on this ground. They suggested keeping lambs entire and finishing them, rather than castrating them and selling as stores.

A lamb finishing trial looked at the cost benefit of finishing lambs versus selling them as store, and the most efficient way to do this was completed, giving the wider community group confidence that this was a viable option.

As well as creating a new route to market, weaning the male lambs three weeks earlier had an additional impact.

“The following year, I had 80 more sheep with twins. That’s massive for us,” Chris said. “The ewes just had a better chance to recover and because they were going to Inverness ground for the summer, they got a bit fatter, and their body condition score going into lambing was better, so fertility increased.”

QMS monitor farm facilitator and senior agricultural consultant for SAC Consulting, Niall Campbell, said the results from this trial have benefited everyone involved in the monitor farm meetings.

“It’s broken the cycle of people just choosing to market store lambs,” he said. “It’s shown that there is an alternative and there is a way to add value to lambs, it’s given us a new level of business resilience.”

Chris said his mindset towards grassland management has also changed. “I was mistreating grass before, I wasn’t giving it enough respect for what it is as our cheapest form of feed,” he explained.

By taking on the extra acres at Fass Fern, grazing pressure at lambing has now been reduced on in-bye land at Inverness. Chris has also shifted the lambing period forward by two weeks to give grass longer to recover before silage.

“I want to get sheep off the ground quickly so that we can get two cuts of silage and we’re not cutting the grass too late so it can recover,” added Chris.

“This also means there is good quality silage aftermaths available that we can wean lambs on to, adding value to our store lambs, which in turn helps increase the rate of return on the cost of the new grass establishment”.

Silage yields and quality have improved as a result, allowing cow numbers to be upped by ten. Calf output has subsequently increased, whilst costs have remained similar.

Working closely with seed merchant, Watson Seeds, changes to reseeding management have also aided grass output. Fertiliser applications are now split and are now applied when grass needs it, rather than all at once.

Two tonnes of lime was also applied to the seedbed of reseeded pastures to help soil pH, which was identified as being a limiting factor to grass growth. “That’s working an absolute treat,” said Chris. “We’re getting a fantastic take of grass. We’re also putting on a 0:20:30 on top of the seedbed and that’s there when the grass comes through. We weren’t doing that before.”

New grass leys are consequently lasting longer, with Chris planning on rolling out the same strategy to improve other areas of the farm and is hoping that this will lay the foundation for further increases in livestock numbers.

However, improving technical efficiency of the livestock enterprise was only one side of the Monitor Farm project at Strone.

Mid-way through the project, in 2018, facing the realities and uncertainties of Brexit, and a changing farm support environment, the management group decided to hold a ‘Vision for the hills’ conference, along with NFU Scotland.

Bringing together key politicians, policy makers, members of the red meat supply chain, and environmentalists, a vision statement was set that helped to focus the final 18 months of activity on the Lochaber monitor farm: ‘To have an active and robust hill and mountain farming sector that supplies a quality product into the food chain and is fairly rewarded for actively managing the wider environmental and landscape and supplying key public goods.’

Taking this vision forward, in March, 2019, supported by local MSP, Donald Cameron, members of the Monitor Farm management group visited Holyrood for a meeting with Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing.

Using benchmarking data generated through the Monitor Farm programme, the group were able to highlight the key barriers and threats to profitable livestock production in this part of the world, as well as share some of the learnings and solutions that they had found.

Ewen Campbell, a member of the Lochaber management group, commented: “I never thought that I would have had the confidence to take our concerns right to the top politicians before the Monitor Farm programme, it’s given us the feeling that we can do something about our future. This was probably one of the highlights of the whole programme for me.”

Malcolm Cameron added: “One of the biggest unspoken challenges farmers and crofters in this part of the world face is the isolation, we just don’t see our farming neighbours like we used to.

“The programme has given us the opportunity to come together as a group with shared vision and vested interest in the future of our local community and share thoughts and ideas about how we can improve things.”

Looking forward, Chris and Malcolm have high hopes for the future, including looking at how they can continue to grow the output from their livestock enterprises over the coming years, and are targeting maintaining a weaning % of over 100% in their sheep flock, and growing sheep numbers to 600.

They are also hoping to maintain their 95% weaning on their cattle enterprise, focusing on stabilising numbers and reducing costs.