Brian Whittle has paid a visit to Scotland’s leading dairy farm. Owned and operated by the Watson family, Laigh Tarbeg farm, near Cumnock, was crowned Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year in 2018 when judges recognised the farm’s use of innovative new technology.
After highlighting the farm’s achievements with a motion in the Scottish Parliament, South Scotland MSP Brian decided to meet the Watsons and see the farm for himself.
During his visit, the South Scotland MSP was given a tour by farmer Hugh Watson who demonstrated the sophisticated automatic milking machine that allows cows to be milked when they choose, rather than on a set timetable.
The farm also uses robots to keep the cowsheds tidy and each cow wears a collar with a computerised ID tag. Together with an array of sensors, this allows computers to track how much milk each cow is giving, how much food they’re eating and also detect potential health problems early.
Brian Whittle MSP said:
“I really enjoyed my visit to Laigh Tarbeg farm. It was fascinating to see how technology is being used to transform farming for the better. Thanks to the automatic milking robots, getting out of bed at 4am to milk the cows is a thing of the past, and if the system detects a problem, the farmer gets an alert on his phone.
When you visit a farm, you don’t really expect to see a robot trundling past you, but when you see how automation and computerised monitoring can make life easier for farmers and animals alike, you can understand why the Watsons took the decision to embrace technology.
I’m delighted to have had the chance to visit the farm and recognise the achievements of the Watson family.”
Hugh Watson & Moira Watson of Laigh Tarbeg said:
“It was good to meet Brian and show him round the farm. In the current political climate, where politicians are spending so much time talking about Brexit, it was encouraging to see our local MSP taking an interest in local food production and the future of Scottish agriculture.”
