Mains of Thornton: blend of contracting and YouTube success

The family farm spans 800 acres with an additional 140 acres on short-term tenancy and in excess of 240 acres of seasonal lets.

McHale Fusion Vario baler wrapper Ref: RH120924032 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Now in its 18th year as an organic farm, Murray and Leslie, along with their two full-time employees, Sofie Gray, 21, and Jake Cadger, 18, manage the land. Sofie focuses on sheep, while Jake handles general tractor duties. Together, they oversee a flock of 900 cross bred ewes, sires include Logie Durno hybrids, Texel and Suffolk, Berrichon and Dutch Spotted to name a few. They also manage 160 suckler cows, a mix of Aberdeen Angus and Stabiliser breeds.

In addition to running the family farm Murray also manages a contracting business providing services such as seed drilling, grass seeding, ploughing, mowing, raking, baling, swathing and combining to neighbouring farms when workload allows.

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HoneyBee ST swather mounted on the Valtra T234 with the McHale Fusion Viaro baler wrapper Ref: RH120924031 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... However, Murray’s passion extends beyond farming. Recently, he started sharing his farming life on YouTube, gathering over 200 subscribers and thousands of views.

"I started uploading in my early twenties, and recently started posting weekly. The response has been good; people are really interested in what we’re doing here," he says.

From machinery demos to daily operations, his channel provides a unique glimpse into farm life. One of his most recent videos, featuring direct cutting arable silage using a Valtra T234D, Honeybee ST swather, and McHale Fusion 3 Vario baler, has racked up an impressive 78,000 views.

The HoneyBee ST 21ft swather is mounted on a Valtra T234 Ref: RH120924033 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Murray explains: "Arable silage is whole crop, taken slightly earlier than usual, before the seed sets in. It's harvested around 9-10 weeks after sowing, creating a leafy, nutrient-rich feed. This method also reduces the risk of vermin damage and provides clean, under-sown grazing for lambs."

Murray innovatively combined the machinery for direct cutting, stating: "We already had the 21ft swather header. The setup saves time, especially in unpredictable weather, and it was straightforward to carry out by using two free flow return valves available on the Valtra to allow both the swather and baler to run from the tractor. Soil contamination is also kept to a minimum as we cut out the raking and don’t thrash out the feed value, as often done using mower conditioners."

The HoneyBee ST swather is mounted on a Valtra T234, paired with a McHale Fusion Vario baler-wrapper Ref: RH120924034 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Currently, the swather is transported between fields by dropping off the baler, but efforts are underway to increase gate widths where possible when working at home.

Their McHale Fusion 3 Vario baler, which Murray bought from Ross Agri before switching to Alan Mackay for servicing, plays a critical role in their silage-making process.

Detailing his dealer support, Murray shared: "We’ve had pretty good service from both dealers over the years. In the first three years with the baler, we had a few teething issues including bearings and shafts caused by rollers lacking greasing points. We've since updated with newer type greaseable shafts on problem rollers, which are working well."

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The quick-connect block simplifies the process of making connections, allowing for easy and efficient setup Ref: RH120924029 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Further changes include new belts at 31,000 bales following foreign object damage, usual pickup tines and chains all replaced after 46,000 bales.

"We’ve done 53,000 bales so far, and it’s budgeted to change around 60,000. Annually, we do anywhere between 5000 to 7000 bales. This year, we’ve produced 3800 bales of silage and 1800 bales of straw.

The feed ration is mixed in the Trioliet solomix feed wagon Ref: RH120924024 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer...

“Being a Vario baler is a big advantage often squeezing 200kg+ more silage in over a fixed chamber baler, reducing the number of bales to wrap and handle, whilst offering versatility for either making smaller haylage bales for some equine customers or larger straw bales," Murray explains.

Swaths of wholecrop are fed from the pick-up reel and into the chamber.

Stabiliser cows run with Stabiliser and red Angus Bulls, divided into two distinct calving batches Ref: RH120924022 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... “We retrofitted a nylon board to lessen the gap beneath the rotor intake, reducing issues in wet leafy cuts, typically seen from second to fourth cuts, this has improved crop flow.” adds Murray, who enjoys time in the workshop where he builds on constantly improving and adapting his machinery.

With 15 knives in the baler and six layers of black wrap covering 2.5 layers of netting, the chopped bales of wholecrop have weighed in at 760kg on average this season.

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The HoneyBee ST tractor mounted swather uses conveyor belt to move the crop to the centre Ref: RH120924026 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Murray is even considering the possibility of transitioning to the McHale Fusion 4 Vario Plus in the future, allowing for the option to produce film on film bales, creating a more streamlined approach to recycling and improvements in forage feed quality.

As the bales are dropped out of the baler, a bale tipper props them on their end, as Murray suggests the coarse stubble from the wholecrop or clover stubble can otherwise pierce the sidewalls.

Bales are stack and each batch is sampled Ref: RH120924021 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Bales are stacked outside and up to four high, collectively Murray grows a variety of forage mixes including increased clover mixes, dual purpose with chicory and plantain mixes and short-term silage mixes. With each variety strategically positioned within the farmyard, samples are assessed for nutrient properties before Murray compiles the data into the AHDB ration calculator. Selecting his best silage for feeding to pregnant ewes and mixing stacks to tailor rations through the Trioliet diet feeder to youngstock and cows.

He added: “Our 2023 wholecrop (oat/pea under sown silage mix) analysed at DM 28.3- 33%, protein 7.8% (very low expect 9-12%) D 65.2%, and ME 10.2%, this was fed straight to cows with calves at foot outwintered on hill ground with no issues so I suspect as often seams, it was analysed worse than it actually was.”

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Growing on YouTube

From machinery demos to daily operations, his channel provides a fresh view into farm life. One of his most popular videos, featuring a tractor being pulled free by a JCB telehandler, gained 48,000 views.

His content resonates with farmers and those curious about innovative farming practices. Murray also uses Tiktok as @icp_2021, further expanding his digital reach. Between the two platforms, he’s building a following eager to learn more about his ideas on the farm. Looking ahead, he hopes to keep growing his audience and content.

"It’s all about showing what we do here and how we do it. The feedback has been great, and I’m excited to keep sharing more and one day wish to have the confidence to speak on camera."

Looking Ahead

Murray is excited about embracing new technologies, particularly robotic feeding systems and seeding and weeding robot.

"I've toured the Trioliet factory, seen T30/T40 and also Lely Vector systems in action. They are the way forward, especially with how labour is going. In the next couple of years, I hope to merge cattle herds and sheep flocks onto separate units to streamline our operation."

At Mains of Thornton, the Coopers combine tradition and innovation, using cutting-edge machinery while sharing their journey with a growing online audience.

What’s in my shed?

Tractors

Valtra T235D

Valtra T194D + loader

John Deere 6630 – “Most reliable, bought 10 years ago with 4,000 hours, now over 15,000 hours and never had to replace the head gasket or brakes... touch wood.”

New Holland T6.140 + Loader

McCormick MTX140

Telehandler

Schäffer 8620 T pivot steer loader – “Great manoeuvrability and reliable. We’ve had this for a year now and had no issues apart from needing a new seal on a gearbox following its first service and door handle kept slackening, but it’s been a considerable improvement on the previous Merlo.”

Attachments

McHale Fusion 3 Vario Integrated baler wrapper - featuring a 2.1m pick-up, inbuilt camera system, iTouch control system, and high-speed vertical wrapping ring.

Mchale front and back mower conditions - F3100, R3100

Honeybee ST grain belt swather 21ft

Ovlac mini 9 furrow shallow plough

Kverneland 5 furrow plough

Elho V-TWIN 750 7.5m rake – “Rake tines are on double rotors with seven tine bars and 322 tines cast into rubber, unlike conventional tine carousels. This brings in less contamination. It’s been very reliable over the five years we’ve had it.”

Triolet 18 cube diet feeder and bedder combo

Stewart livestock float (21ft, 2003)

System Cameleon 8m seed drill/inter-row weeder

Einbock 9m harrow/grass seed drill

Watson 3m Aerator roller

Moreni 3m front or rear mounted power harrow

JM Agri Designs TR-8 – Bale handler – “One of the best purchases I’ve made in the last few years—on par with the Schäffer, saving around 1900 loader lifts in a season.”

3 snow ploughs – “Two provided by the council for the work we do for them during the winter on nearby back roads.”

Combines

Claas Lexion 430 (1998) & Claas dominator 86 (1984),

Pickups

2 x Mitsubishi L200s & Nissan Navara – “Chassis has since broken!”

Social media

Youtube: @mcagris

Tiktok: @icp_2021

Facebook: Ian Cooper & Partners