Stair Holsteins bound for Borderway
FARMING is never easy. While there are tremendous highs to be had, there are also horrific lows, but none can be as chilling as those experienced by the Kennedys from East Carngillan, who are dispersing their wellknown Stair Holstein herd to enable them to move on.
Tragically, Jim Kennedy took his own life three years ago on the farm just outside Tarbolton, Ayrshire, leaving his wife, Liz and two sons James and Josh, and parents, Hughie and Ruth, absolutely devastated. Equally traumatised, Jim’s brother Bryan, and his wife Dawn, experienced even more grief last year, when they lost their 20-year-old son to cancer.
There can be no disputing the pain and suffering experienced by the family over the past few years, and the dispersal of the herd, at Borderway Mart, Carlisle, on Wednesday, December 7, will be extremely difficult for them all. They do however remain indebted to the local farming community for their help and support over the years.
“We have so many people we have to thank, with son Bryan and Robbie Scott, helping to organise the sale and Cameron Macgregor, Rory Scott, Neil Sloan and Andrew Struthers, supporting us with all the pre-sale preparation. There are so many others too,” said Hughie.
“It (the dispersal) had to come when none of the grandsons are interesting in dairy farming and there’s no point in milking cows for a living if your heart is not in it, because there are a lot of long days and nights involved in doing the job right.”
In saying that, Hughie and Liz were the first to admit, the future of the industry has never looked brighter, with the milk price at a record high, coupled with strong demand and high prices for cast cows and calves.
Hughie added: “The Holstein has served us really well financially here over the years and the last 12 months have been better than ever when we have such a low input system. We have never pushed our cows, so our average yields work out at 9000kg on a twice daily milking regime at 4.2%BF and 3.3%P when fed ad-lib silage and a Roadhead Farm Feeds high energy/starch cake through the parlour according to yield.”
Cows are out at grass from April, through to September depending on the weather, housed in cubicles on mats and sawdust and milked through a herringbone parlour. Somatic cell counts range between 70,000 and 80,000 per ml of milk.
Grass-based, the winter diet revolves around three quality cuts of home-grown silage, harvested by local contractors.
Heifers join the milking herd at 26months of age and by breeding mostly for type with good udders, feet and legs, most cows last well into their fourth lactation. Sexed semen has been used for a number of years on the top end of the herd, with the most recent sires used being Stantons Adorable and Applicable; Delaberge Pepper; Farmer Delta Lambda and Ri-VarRe Ranger Red. British Blue semen is used on the bottom end of the cows, with the resultant beef progeny sold at six to eight weeks of age. The best of the Holstein heifers are retained as replacements, with others sold privately.
While Ewan Corbett has been managing the farm over the past three years, Liz feeds all the calves, does the farm books and also some milking, having learnt and taken on so much from her late husband, Jim who built up the Stair herd which now comprises no fewer than 25 Excellentclassified cows and 40 VGs.
“The good breeding cows are all down to Jim,” said Liz. “We had some great times over the years – It was always a struggle getting him to a party on time at the weekend if the scrappers in the cubicle shed broke down, but he was never late if it was a day for the races, when everyone else had to get their skates on!”
He’s built up one tremendous herd of cows since the early years too. While the previous British Friesian enterprise was dispersed in 1991, the boys went about establishing a new unit based on the best of genetics from the Netherlands and Germany, which proved to be better value for money, according to Hughie, who enjoyed several ventures to the continent with breeders – albeit with an interpreter/minder!
Since then, the family has built up several noted cow families to include the Supra’s which at Carngillan, were founded on a Canadian embryo bought by an Irishman. One of her descendant’s Stair Galantis Supra 2 VG88, a second calver, landed the reserve championship at Coylton and the supreme at Tarbolton. Her grand-dam was a former West of Scotland SuperCow.
The Kennedys and the late Billy Scott also teamed up to buy a Maria from the renowned cow family at Denmire, which in turn bred a Stair heifer calf that made £3800 for charity earlier this year, ironically at a sale organised by Billy’s son, Robbie.
Other world renowned cow families in the Stair herd include the Laurie Sheiks, the Roxys, Christinas and the Faiths.
One such top cow from these families, Stair Snowy Faith Ex91, a third calver, landed the tri-colour at Coylton and the reserve honours at Tarbolton.
It is however Stair Galantis Delight, a VG88-classified second calver, that has proved their most successful show cow this year, bagging the reserve rosette at Ayr and the championship at Catrine and Dalrymple. She also went all the way to be crowed West of Scotland SuperCow, last month.
The herd itself has had a fantastic year, winning the West of Scotland’s inaugural Winter Herd’s Team of Six and the Billy Scott Memorial Trophy, and the reserve in the Summer Herd’s Team of 10 – huge success which Hughie and Liz put down to Jim’s superior breeding policies coupled with Ewan’s ability to show the cows to their best.
The Stair dispersal, on Wednesday, December 7, at Carlisle, features 140 top quality milking cows and heifers; 74 in-calf females; 49 maiden heifers and 49 heifer calves. You won’t be disappointed!