Innes family holiday at RHS with Newmeadow Holsteins

Living so far north and in an area relatively bereft of dairy cattle, there are no local events to exhibit their star performers at. In fact, despite being a six-hour round trip away, the four-day Ingliston exposition is the closest agricultural show where there are any real competitive classes for dairy cattle.

Dairy unit comprises of five individual sheds non of which are fully stocked thereby reducing the incidence of bullying

“We all love meeting and getting together with like-minded people, and the Highland Show is the closest event we can get away to and show our cows,” said Steven Innes, who together with his wife Maureen, daughter Megan (18) and sons Callum (16) and Robbie (12) of Newmeadow Holsteins, Nairn, are all counting the days down to the big event.

“We so rarely get away from the farm and to be able to talk farming socially is a huge benefit. All our farming friends in the area go, so it’s a great opportunity to showcase our cattle. The biggest negative is the Scottish cattle are so good! All the Scottish exhibitors and their cattle are at national level and this year the quality looks set to be higher than ever when stall numbers are fully booked,” Steven said.

All five cattle sheds are open and airy with cubicles and mattresses

However, while the family has undoubtedly made their mark in the past two or three years at the Royal Highland, AgriScot and further afield at Borderway Dairy Expo at Carlisle; UK Dairy Day at Telford, and the All Britain Calf Show at Stoneleigh, they are relatively new to the show circuit and are as a result, extremely grateful to the help and assistance of their ‘cow fitter’ Dennis O’Neil.

Ironically, it was the covid pandemic and the horrendous times when everyone was stuck at home for months on end, that re-ignited Steven’s passion for pedigree Holsteins. With the children all at high school at this time, and Maureen having more time to help out, the family soon became ‘hooked’ on breeding and exhibiting the best.

Sheds are open sided with curtains able to be drawn if need be

“As a family, we were always interested in pedigree Holsteins,” Steven. said. “Dad imported a batch of Holstein heifers from Canada in the early 1980s including Stonetown Warden April which went on to classify Ex93 and the VG88-2yr heifer, Wilsoncrest Sherry C, from which we’ve still got family members in the herd.”

However, with huge expansion of the herd and a young family coming on, show cows were very much put on the back burner for almost 20 years. The cows were always registered, but the Innes’ have only started classifying their cattle again following a trip to the Great Yorkshire in 2021 when the returned with a junior championship rosette with Slatabogie Jordy Kitkat.

Some 1200 cows are milked through a 60-point rotary parlour three times a day

The following year, Slatabogie MS Appleation was first prize coloured calf at the Highland; Slatabogie Willows Avina Red triumphed at the All Britain Calf Show and went on to take champion Red and White junior heifer in the 2023 All Britain awards. Two of these were purchased as calves at the Black and White sale at Carlisle, with the other bought at the Summer Sizzler sale.

It is however the privately purchased Wolfa Chief Sue, bought through Glyn Lucas, Harrison and Hetherington, that has attracted the most interest to date.

Cows are so contented when there is so much space and they are on one of five different rations according to lactation stage

Inter-breed junior champion at the Highland, a red ticket holder from UK Dairy Day and heifer champion at Agriscot last year, this March 2021-born Stantons Chief daughter bred by the Armstrong family, Penrith, also went on to lift the reserve intermediate Holstein at the Borderway UK Dairy Expo in March and supreme intermediate two-year-old heifer in milk in the All Britain Awards, presented that night.

“She is just an angel and my favourite,” said Megan who is always at the end of the halter of show ring cows. “Sue settles in so well where ever she goes – there is no work in her, she does it all herself.

“We’re just crazy cow people. We love our cows, they’re more like pets than show cows,” she said adding that it was Sue that helped her to win the Rising Star Award at the UK Dairy Expo, in March.

Such is their passion for show cows, the family has also recently purchased another from Sue and Richard Armstrong’s Wolfa herd at Carlisle – Wolfa Crushabull Rose, which will be out later in the year.

Sexed semen is used on all cows with the best retained for breeding and the remainder sold privately in calf

With the family enjoying spending so much time with the cows, their show herd is run in partnership with Steven’s sister Susan and is separate from the main business which trades as C Innes and Sons – father Callum Innes, mother Dulcie and sons Steven and Stewart.

There is however, a lot more to Newmeadow Holsteins than the 40 plus cow show herd which has been built up from several other bought in females, to include Feizor Sidekick M Kandie, purchased at last year’s Black and White sale and the recent fresh heifer acquisition, Denmire Ferraro Reba.

The business comprises of 3100 grass and cropping acres to include 1400acres of cereals and 120acres of potatoes let out.

Stewart is in charge of the cropping and grass silage work which usually sees 1000acres of first cut silage taken, and a further two or three cuts, while Steven attends to the new dairy enterprise that was built on a green-field site some 13 years ago when the business qualified for a massive SRDP grant.

Slatabogie Willows Avina 2

It is now home to 1200 milking cows and followers producing 9400litres on a three times milking regime at 4.2%BF and 3.4%P sold through Robert Graham Dairies based in Nairn.

Such is the expanse of the business that cows are housed in five open, airy cubicle sheds according to their lactation and milked through the one 60-point GEA rotary parlour with assistance of five full-time staff. Very much a family affair, Megan works full time on the farm and despite being a straight ‘A’ student, does all the AI work and attends to the youngstock, while Maureen rears the calves and helps out with AI’ing. Callum has also just started working full time and is in charge of milking parlour and shift milking staff, while Robbie is still at school but also helps out at milkings when each milking takes 4.5hours.

“We used to use natural service on all the cows, but when we decided to go down the pedigree route more, in the summer of 2022, Maureen and Megan went and did a two-day AI course, and I went and bought 500 straws of sexed Holstein semen, so they couldn’t get out of the job,” joked Steven who added that 55% hold to first service at 60 days, and the herd boasts a calving index of 380 days. Now, cows get two straws of sexed semen, twice, after which if they haven’t held are then run with sweeper Holstein bulls.

Semen in the tank at present includes Bullseye, Willows, Chief, Applicable and several other Semex and Blondin sires.

While the Innes’ have been concentrating on building up herd numbers in recent years, there have been few females available for sale. However, since they started AI’ing with sexed semen, they are now able to sell 250-300 in-calf heifers privately which are meeting a ready demand when all are vaccinated for BVD and Lepto and the herd is Johnes free.

Heifers calve at 24months with calves fed two, three litre feeds of pasteurised cows’ colostrum within the first 12 hours of birth. Calves are fed pasteurised cows’ milk until weaning at 10-12weeks of age and ad-lib concentrates within the first week.

Wolfa Chief Sue which has done so well for the herd with Megan at the end of the halter

With heifers put under so much pressure to calve early and then start cycling again when they are still growing, the Innes’ house this group in a separate shed where they are fed a higher protein TMR and have an extended lactation.

Add in the remainder of the herd and there are no fewer than five different milking rations – high yielders up to 150 days in milk; medium yielders; low yielders and two for calved heifers, fresh two-year-olds and stale two-year-olds.

The bulk of the ration comprises 35kg of top quality silage; 12kg of locally produced draff; 4.5kg of bruised cereals/barley; 3kg of rapemeal and 3kg of an East Coast Viners Blend. Rapemeal was introduced some years ago to replace soya and the cows performed just as well on it and without the need for expensive rumen protected fats. David Keiley of Kite Consulting, formulates the rations.

In contrast to the several rations for milking females, there is only one transition feed for when cows go dry 60 days pre calving which comprises a mixture of mostly straw, silage, draff and minerals. There are next to no calving issues either and even if there are, there are very few times of the day when there is no-one on hand to help out when Steven and Maureen are often still working in the shed at 11.30 at night and the first milking of the day starts at 3am.

There can be no doubting, the long, hard hours dairy farmers have to work to make ends meet, but at least there is light at the tunnel for all concerned when they can let their hair down a tad for a few days at national events such as the Highland because it doesn’t get any easier.

Producing and bringing out top quality show cattle under the glitz of the camera might seem glamorous, but not when you have electricity bills which on average work out at £10,000 per month but have been as high as £25,000 recently. As a result, the family is looking to install 1000 solar panels on the shed roofs but even then that will only provide 52% of the power provided.

Thankfully however, such frightening costs can at least be put behind them for a week, when the team has three stalls booked for Highland Show.

Farm Facts

Family farm: Trades as C Innes and Son comprising Callum and Dulsie Innes and sons Steven and Stewart where by Stewart attends to the cropping enterprise of the 3100-acre unit and Steven and his wife Maureen and family of Megan, Callum and Robbie, are in charge of the 1200-cow Holstein dairy enterprise. Show herd is owned by Steven and his sister Susan and family.

Herd stats: 1200 cows average 9400litres at 4.2%BF and 3.4%P milked three times per day through a 60-point GEA rotary parlour. Calving index of 380days.

Breeding policy: All cows AI'd using sexed Holstein semen followed by sweeper bulls. Aim to sell 250 in-calf Holstein heifers privately.

Show success: National winners at the Royal Highland, Agriscot; UK Dairy Day; Borderway UK Dairy Expo and Great Yorkshire Shows.

On The Spot

Best investment: Wolfa Chief Sue.

Biggest achievement: Securing the SRDP grant and planning permission for the new unit

Where do you see yourselves in 10 years time: Semi retired! with business structured to suit the next generation.

Best Holstein cow seen: Evening Sidekick Jennifer.

Favourite agricultural event: Favourite all round agricultural show is the Royal Highland Show and the best specialist dairy event is Borderway UK Dairy Expo.