AGRISCOT'S four Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year four have been announced.

Whittled out of the list of 20 top farms announced at the start of September, the four finalists are: A Colquhoun Ltd, of Dendoldrum, Inverbervie, Kincardineshire; Wm Hamilton and Son, Meldrum, Blairdrummond, Stirling; K and I Millar and Sons, Trailflat, Lochmaben, Lockerbie; and the University of Edinburgh, Langhill Farm, Roslin, Midlothian.

This final four will be judged on-farm by Jimmy Goldie, of Carrs Billington, and the overall winner will then be announced at AgriScot itself, on Wednesday, November 16.

Commenting on the finalists, Mr Goldie said: "I was extremely impressed by the quality of the top twenty finalists, so having to whittle it down to just four farms was not an easy task! All my decisions were made based on the recorded figures of each herd, and it was only when I had decided on the final four that I was given the names."

"We know from the milk recorded figures that these are four extremely good farms – it will be very, very interesting to see who takes the crown."

Mr Goldie selected the top four from performance details, related to their breed averages, such as calving age, calving index, somatic cell count, yields and longevity within the herd. During his visits to the farms, he will study calf rearing, sire selection, practical management techniques and feeding and nutrition programmes.

The average performance figures for the top four are 467 cows, producing 11,229 litres in 305, days at 3.8% fat, 3.2% protein, with a calving age of 24 months and a calving index of 387 days.