Martyn Lyall - Regional Winner of the Heifer Rearer of the Year Award 2011

12 September 2011

Martyn Lyall, North Scales, Heads Nook, Brampton

What the judges liked

Impressive home designed calf rearing shed

Minimal incidence of respiratory and enteric disease

First calved heifers managed in separate group

Excellent levels of stockmanship

Dedicated stockmanship coupled with a good environment and colostrum transfer not only make for healthy calves, but also influence their productive life which at North Scales, Heads Nook, Brampton is reflected in the herd’s performance and longevity, according to Martyn Lyall. The 280 cow herd, currently averaging 10,800 litres, is within the top 10% of NMR recorded herds for daily life time yield. Managing the heifers in a separate group in their first lactation - averaging 9,000 litres, contributes to that performance. 

Martyn is optimistic that a new calf rearing shed will further enhance current achievements, and within its first operational year that is proving to be the case. “The calves are growing faster enabling us to wean one month earlier at 60 days and also serve one month sooner from 13 months. The calves are also healthier; pneumonia has been reduced to a few niggley cases and overall, mortality has been reduced to less than 2% in the last 12 months,” explains Martyn who farms in partnership with his brother, Stephen and father, David with help from assistant stockman, Mark Rickerby.

The Lyall’s out dated traditional calf rearing accommodation led them to agree investing £35,000 in the new shed for 40 calves which they designed themselves. Measuring 40’ by 60’, the single span building with a raised roof ridge was designed around a computerised feeding system and is centrally partitioned enabling one of the two areas to be totally rested. The floor slopes towards a slatted area covering a 8,000 gallon pit. The cow slats are covered with perforated matting for calf comfort. The shed is also characterised by manually operated side panels which enable air flow to be precisely adjusted according to the weather pattern.

“We are really pleased with the build, it’s simple, but it has brought so many benefits ranging from managed effluent collection to time saving,” says Martyn. “The calves are also doing better. They’re no longer restricted to amount of replacer fed, and we’re noticing they’re eating more concentrate as well as straw from racks. However, we firmly believe their ultimate performance is dependent on colostrum management, initially within the first hour after birth and thereafter for its first week.”

 Jo Bates, Scott Mitchell & Associates

The quality of heifer that is being produced at North Scales, without the use of management aids such as weigh crates, is testament to Martyn’s extremely good stockmanship and attention to detail. The low morbidity and mortality rates that he achieves without blanket vaccination programmes for scour are something that any stockman should be very proud of.

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