Scottish Holstein Club open day visit to Laird's Blythbridge Holstein herd

However, the worst is now hopefully behind us, with numerous agricultural events and open days gearing up for what promises to be a busy year for all.

One of the highlights promises to be the Scottish Holstein Club's Open Day to the Laird family's pedigree Blythbridge enterprise at Blyth Farms, Peebles.

Such is the prestige behind this renowned, award winning herd, that there will only be one place to be on Thursday, May 12, when Alister and Kathleen Laird, son Colin and his wife Izzy, open the Blyth Farm gates to their ever expanding unit.

No strangers to the limelight or to welcoming visitors, the Blythbridge herd is home to numerous former Ayr, Royal Highland, UK Dairy Day, AgriScot and Agri Expo champion winners. Next week's Open Day will however be the first time farmers and enthusiasts will be able to view the family's new state of the art, all singing, all dancing cow barn.

A Lely Juno pushes up the silage every 1.5hours increasing dry matter intakes

Constructed on a green field site, this high, open aired, all encompassing building complete with 470 spacious cubicles and robotic milking machines, spans some 220m x 41m and is suspended above a 3.5m gallon slurry store.

Built to replace what was deemed to be a more outdated cubicle shed with mattresses and a 36-point rotary parlour that was milking 530 cows three times a day, the new automated unit is not only more productive and efficient, but also 'greener.'

While the new barn boasts no fewer than eight Lely A5 milking robots, a further two have been installed in the older cubicle shed over the past year with the result being cow numbers are back up at 530 and cow health and milk yields are better than ever.

"Pre-robots, the herd was producing 10,700litres on a three times daily milking regime through the rotary, but yields have increased to 12,000plus since then and cow comfort and health is significantly improved," said Colin.

Cow comfort and improved herd health were just two of the priorities the family was keen to address in the planning of a new enterprise which saw Alister and Colin travel throughout much of the UK and Europe for ideas, and the introduction of recycled manure solids (RMS) or green bedding, has certainly made an impression.

Eight Lely A5 robots have been installed in the new cow shed with a further two in an older cubicle shed

Add in the sole JH Ministro green bedding distribution box in the UK, and the boys believe their cows are not only healthier and more content, but their business is more sustainable and 'greener' as it no longer has to rely on artic loads of sawdust, or manpower to bed the cubicles.

This machine located at the end of the barn which moves below the manure separator, fills up automatically then transports the fluffed up green bedding along the top of the cubicles. This is achieved via a rail system attached to the roof which drops a sufficient amount down into each cubicle all day every day so each cubicle is topped up three or four times per day. In doing so, air is added which coupled with the heat of the cows lying on it, dries the bedding further thereby making it more comfortable to lie on.

In turn, the Lairds no longer have to bed the cows every day with an expensive forklift and labour.

Instead, all that is required is a rake to level out the bedding.

"The cows really seem to like the new bedding. Our cows give 2.5kg more milk per cow per day in the new barn bedded with green manure compared to those in the older cubicle shed on mattresses," said Colin adding that mastitis levels have also been reduced.

Furthermore, the liquid part of the manure is proving to be a lot more valuable being readily available as nitrogen to the grass compared to applying slurry as in previous years – a key advantage considering artificial fertiliser prices have more than doubled.

"Grass does seem to grow quicker by applying the liquid portion of the slurry only. We haven't had it analysed but I would think it will be higher in nitrogen than normal slurry and it is easier mixed!

Cows readily queue up to be milked through the robotic machine where they are given concentrates according to yield

Another advantage of relying on green bedding, is there is no longer sawdust being transported out into the field in the slurry, and the environment within the shed is a lot more pleasant without the dust created by particularly fine sawdust. In fact, there have been no respiratory problems amongst the cows in the new shed since green bedding was introduced.

Cow comfort has been further improved by ensuring a constant temperature and humidity with the use of automatic curtains on two sides of the shed and a high, foam insulated roof for continual air flow.

"One of the best things we did was insulate the roof as it has reduced the amount of heat stress on the cows in summer. You wouldn't think such a thing was possible in Scotland, but heat stress can be an issue. The water troughs are on a gravity fed system so the water is continually flowing too which means it is always fresh and shouldn't ever freeze."

LED low bay lights and a 4m light ridge on the roof, as well as a 40mm insulated composite panel for climate control, further complement the building.

Additional automation which has helped improve cow welfare and reduce labour include a Lely discovery slurry scraper, instead of automatic scrapers which previously tended to break down and a Lely Juno is used to push up the silage feed every 1.5hours which in turn has been shown to increase dry matter intakes.

Electricity costs are reduced by solar panels on the roof and a heat recovery unit which extracts heat from the milk by using glycol that circulates around the bulk tank and pre-coolers at -2°C.

The heat extracted from the milk is then used to heat up water, which is then utilised by the Lairds' two farmhouses, as well as the farm office and any water heaters around the farm.

“This method means that we don’t rely on fossil fuels for heating the houses. Cooling the milk has to take place regardless, so we are utilising the heat produced by the cows that’s already available to our own benefit,” Colin added.

Cows are also easier to work with, as a separate area in the centre of the barn has been fitted out with a foot trimming crush, collecting pen and a cattle funnel to allow for easy handling during health checks and treatments.

A wealth of information is available through the robots

“We use this area for drying cows off and wanted a layout that would allow for easy access to move cattle from any location within the shed,” he said.

“If we have a cow that needs attention, she can be separated from the herd easily so it’s less of a chore and the funnel allows for one person to manage the issue. It saves time and is far more efficient.”

The new cow barn boasts cubicles for 470, but milks 430, with a further 100 milked through two other robots in the older cubicle shed.

With more than enough feed trough space and additional water troughs, fresh heifers and cows run together as one without the fear of bulling. They are also fed the one total mixed ration (TMR) for maintenance plus 29litres, with additional concentrate feed provided in the robot according to yield.

At present, the TMR comprises 32kg of silage; 1.2kg caustic wheat; 0.5kg biscuit meal; 0.5kg soya hulls; 7.5kg supergrains; 0.9kg soya; 1.5kg rolled barley; 1.5kg wheat and minerals.

Cows are dried off 50 days pre calving when they then go onto a high straw/low silage TMR with Dietary Cation-Anion Balance (DCAB) for the first four weeks. High protein Excelit nuts are introduced for the remainder of the transition period.

In recent years the Lairds have also constructed an additional calf shed which enables an 'all in, all out' system, whereby one shed can be left to be thoroughly disinfected and rested for up to a fortnight while the other is filled with calves.

A robotic slurry scraper had led to cleaner cows

Add in the improved hygiene and an automated calf feeding system and mortality has been reduced.

Calves are weaned at 70 days of age with all youngstock reared at the family's Ardgairney unit at Kinross, where most of the arable crops are grown for home produced feed and surplus sold.

Back at Blyth, while a much more automated enterprise may appear to be less work, life never stops, especially with an even bigger herd to manage and four cuts of silage still to take and all fieldwork done in house.

There is also next week's Open Day which features 20 trades stands, a hog roast and stockjudging of some of the family's best breeding cows and heifers, to prepare for.

The competition is being judged by Jaques Roullier – the breeder of one of the Laird's former top show cows, Illens Atwood Australia Ex95, which not only won the the supreme at AgriScot but also the tri-colour at UK Dairy Day and the UK Dairy Expo. All proceeds out with a prize for the winner, along with donations from the trade stand holders, are being donated to the RSABI so there's no excuses for not taking part!

The day commences at 10am and all are welcome.

Blyth Farm comprises some 950 acres to include hill ground for the dry cows and a new barn measures 420m by 220m

FARM facts:

Farm business: Family enterprise managed by Alister and Kathleen Laird and Colin and Izzy Laird.

Acreage: Blyth Farm totals 950acres of mostly permanent pasture also hill ground kept for dry cow grazing. Ardgairney, which amounts to 750acres and is where youngstock are reared and most cereal crops grown.

Cow herd: 530 cows with a rolling herd average of 12,000kg plus at 4.1BF and 3.1P. Calving interval of 410days with a 20% pregnancy rate.

Staff: Two dairymen, and three general farm workers/tractormen