Grazing group meetat Pirntaton Farm

The new groups are part of an initiative by QMS aimed at improving livestock producers’ profitability by maximising the kilograms of meat produced per hectare of forage.

Mr Logan is currently changing both sheep and cattle livestock systems and believes this is the right time to make changes to his grazing regime too.

By using mostly his existing ewes and bringing in different breeds of rams, Mr Logan is hoping to get back to a closed flock as soon as possible. He will retain the best of the females while everything else is finished and sold deadweight to Woodhead Brothers.

“We have used a lot of genetics which have been heavily selected to cope with a low labour, grass-based system,” said Mr Logan. “I felt our old system was under pressure especially from a labour and purchased feed point of view and it was time to change. With a change of lambing date, altering our genetics and selection criteria, I hope to build a system with more resilience for the challenges of the future.”

The business was also heavily reliant on income from pedigree sales of Texel and Suffolk rams and also Aberdeen Angus cattle, which were all high-input, and Mr Logan feels a better balance within the business has to be achieved.

To join the Grazing Group contact Kirsty at QMS on 0131 472 4040 or email [email protected].