By Rebecca Bennett, ECV Nutritionist
It’s not often you hear of a new dairy unit being established in the North of Scotland, but the Morrow Family at Brunthill Farm, near New Deer took the plunge last summer, installing two Lely Astronaut robotic milking units.
Norman and Caroline Morrow moved over from Northern Ireland around 33 years ago, starting their own skip hire business alongside a beef enterprise. Their son Ian, however, had always dreamed of dairy farming. That ambition became a reality last summer, when the first cows entered the robots.
“It has definitely been a learning experience,” Ian admits, but the family are already seeing encouraging results and look forward to the future.
Family and Farm Setup
Brunthill Farm is very much a family operation, with Ian working alongside his partner Amiee and his parents Caroline and Norman. The herd currently consists of around 80 cows, averaging 33 litres per cow per day, with the milk supplied to Müller. Ian plans to expand the herd to 120 cows once the remaining shed capacity is completed. The farm grows around 300 acres of grass, 20 acres of peas and 130 acres of barley.
The herd was initially established with Holsteins purchased from other robotic herds in the south of Scotland. More recently, Ian has been introducing Montbeliarde cows, attracted by their robustness, fertility and ability to produce strong calves with good beef value. He has also noticed improvements in milk solids and reduced lameness since their introduction. To improve genetics, sexed semen is used to selectively breed their most elite females for dairy replacements, while Aberdeen Angus is used across the rest of the herd to maximise calf value for their beef enterprise.
Why Robots?
With the skip hire business still the main enterprise at Brunthill, staffing and time were major considerations when setting up the dairy. Robotic milking offered the flexibility needed, allowing cows to choose when to be milked while providing detailed herd data.
The system records not only cow performance but also health parameters, activity, and improvement areas. Alerts allow the family to identify issues early and intervene quickly, supporting cow health and welfare. The robots also enable feeding to yield, helping high-performing cows reach their potential. As it is the cow’s choice to enter the robots, it is vital that the cake is very palatable, encouraging her to visit the robot more, driving milk yields. Dairy Lac 18% is a high energy compound feed, containing highly digestible fibre to boost butterfat and promote rumen function and quality protein sources to drive milk production. It also contains an extensive mineral pack, including biotin to promote hoof health.
The cow will visit the robot three to six times per day, therefore it is essential that hoof health is a priority. Proper nutrition strengthens hooves and boosts resistance so a balanced diet, especially during the transition period, is essential to support strong hooves and overall cow resilience. Cow comfort, preventive hoof care and hygiene also play an essential role in improving hoof health.
Thanks to Brunthill’s investment in a Lely Discovery Scraper, the cow’s walkways are always kept as dry and clean as possible. This keeps the infection pressure of skin related diseases low and prevents any infections from spreading.
Lely’s products are designed to ensure the animals are happy, healthy, and comfortable leading to greater longevity, higher yields and reduced incidence of health conditions.
East Coast Viners work closely with the Morrows. Ian highlights the “attention to detail” as a key reason for the partnership. Silages are sampled and analysed regularly to ensure the ration remains balanced and meets the nutritional requirements of the herd. This ensures we get the best from the cows and maximise productivity. The main goal being to increase milk yield without affecting milk quality, fertility or health of the cows.
At Brunthill, the complete ration consists of a bespoke blend, home-grown bruised barley, pea silage, grass silage, straw, and molasses. Molasses has proven particularly valuable in improving palatability, driving intakes and reducing sorting. It is an excellent source of fermentable energy, stimulating rumen fermentation and feed efficiency.
Feed efficiency is always a priority as well as maximising inclusion of home-grown forages to significantly reduce the cost of production and reduces dependence on bought in feeds. Taking three cuts of grass silage ensures optimum quality, however the Scottish weather can be a limiting factor! Pea silage is also baled for the base ration as well as home-grown barley, which adds much more control and improves sustainability for the Morrows.
The bespoke high-protein blend is tweaked as they go, adapting the feed to what they need from closely monitoring performance, forage analysis and body condition score. Brunthill Blend is formulated with hipro soya, rapemeal, dark grains, sugar beet and ground maize. This allows the Morrows to utilise their own urea-treated barley on farm.
East Coast Viners recently invested in a Kennan industrial mixer which has been a great benefit to the company and customers. It allows us to provide an accurate, consistent mix and the ability to make bespoke blends that meet the nutritional needs of each farm. Raw materials are regularly sent away for independent testing to identify the level of nutrients present. This ensures rations are formulated accurately to get the best results.
Looking Ahead
With the shed expansion, herd growth with quality genetics and continued production improvements, Brunthill Farm is very much at the beginning of its dairy journey. The combination of strong family commitment, modern technology and tailored nutrition provides a solid foundation for success.