Farmer Focus: William Bruce & Sons, Scotland

The Bruce family run a predominately British Friesian herd across two farms and has been customers with CIS since 2018 supported by CIS Regional Manager Liz Brown.

The fourth-generation family farm covers 750 acres, purely grass with 230 cows on one farm and 100 on the other.  William and Margaret and their son William operate a low input system feeding the cows grass, grass silage and cake in the parlour with the addition of brewers grains during the winter.  The cubicle house herd are milked twice a day with milk supplied to Arla. Calving is all year round with one herd and autumn and spring for the other herd with the calves coming together for rearing.

“We wanted to get a better handle on what the cows were doing so joined CIS to help achieve this. Health testing of the herd is done on a quarterly basis and coincides with our assisted milk recording service.  The results enable us to see what cows are doing individually and overall so we set targets for breeding, health and performance”, comments William.

The assisted milk recording helps the family double-check that all the records are in order and ensures everything is completed each time.  The additional cost for the CIS services gives the family insight to save money on any treatments as they identify any issues early so, in essence, it pays for itself.

“We test the herd for Johne’s on both farms and also monitor cell counts to ensure they are trending the right way.  The reports available on YourHerd are excellent in particular the Brinkmanship, calving dates and drying off list – they really add value”, says Bruce who also uses the MobileHerd app.

“The MobileHerd app is really good as it is handy to have in the pocket all the time so we can look back at data in particular cell counts and drying off dates”, adds Bruce.

Two years ago the family built a new cubicle shed for 150 cows which has brought numerous benefits including comfort for the cows on mattresses that they couldn’t do without now.  Future plans are positive with the current performance and milk price as they look to expand the herd with an emphasis on utilising grass on the shoulders of the grazing season.

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