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I live and farm with my wife Alexandra and our four young daughters (Rosie, Ellen, Olivia and Kristina) at Mains of Airies in southwest Scotland. My leisure interests are shooting, fishing, horses and looking at other folk's Herefords. I run the farm under the Specially Selected Scotch Farm Assurance Scheme and also became a member of L.E.A.F. in order to promote my farming principles and to explain to our consumers why we have not become "organic". |
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The main enterprise on the farm is the Ervie Hereford herd. which was established in 1969 by my father, John Telfer Douglas, basing his selections mainly on Haven bloodlines. Previous to this Hereford bulls were used across Galloway cows on the hill farm at Glenluce (also Airies), and also on a proportion of the dairy herd at Mains of Airies. Initially the pedigree numbers remained under ten cows but after the dairy was dispersed in the late 70's, the pedigree herd was expanded to about twenty-five cows with most of the bulls being sold to local dairy farmers. |
| During the early 90's we moved to a policy of breeding our own female replacements and expanded the pedigree cows to 180, which replaced the commercial crossbred beef suckler cows. Our main reason for this was our fear of buying-in BSE and also the increasing influence of the Holstein on the constitution of the cattle. By the mid 90's we had introduced Angus bulls to a portion of the herd with the aim to try out the Black Baldie as an alternative suckler replacement female. |  |
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Today, the Ervie Hereford herd of 165 pedigree cows and their followers graze the exposed coastland of the Rhins of Galloway. The 20 best bull calves are kept for sale as breeding bulls with the rest castrated and finished along with the poorest heifers through our butchery with surplus usually going to Dovecote Park. Surplus breeding heifers are sold in-calf. A proportion of the cows are mated to an Angus bull with a good demand locally for the Black Baldie female. About 60 Hereford stores sired by “Ervie” bulls are bought each year for finishing. Alongside the Hereford herd we run the 70 strong "Airies" flock of pedigree Texels. |
Recent farm policy is to reduce our input costs whilst maintaining a high quality end product. Farm labour has reduced to 2 part-time workers, with cropping contractors used as required. The 600 acre farm is predominately grass with a rotation of fodder beet & kale followed for 2 years with spring barley/oats, then back to grass. Blends of the most productive new clover varieties are incorporated into our grass mixtures producing high output from our grazing swards with reduced nitrogen fertiliser applications. By strip-grazing fodder beet and kale over winter with heifers and dry cows we intend cutting our silage acreage and costs. |
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Low-cost management suits the Hereford herd and economic principles also drive our breeding selection with regard to good fertility, longevity and problem free cows. Much emphasis is placed on breeding cattle with good feet and legs. Cows to have tight level udders with smallish teats. Bulls well balanced with clean underline and sheath and good even sized testicles. The herd is performance recorded and yearling bulls and heifers are scanned for muscle and back fat in a bid to select replacements that will improve red meat yield. Purchased semen is used on selected females to provide us with a regular outcross but much use is made, within the herd, of young homebred bulls with superior performance and muscle depth. |
By establishing three different sire lines within the herd and alternating them in our pedigrees we are able to line breed without our cattle becoming too closely bred. Our aim is to establish a recognisable Hereford “type” that will perform consistently and match the requirements of top pedigree and commercial suckler herds. |
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John S Douglas. |