5th December 2019
By kind permission of the Paterson Family, Hartbush, Amisfield, Dumfries
History of Hartbush Farm
The Paterson family has been at Hartbush for 103 years, originally the farm was 375 acres and gradually expanded over the years with a final purchase of the neighboring Bar Farm in 2002.
Farm area allocation is as follows:
| Acres owned | 605 |
| Acres rented | 257 |
Silage :Area allocated to silage are as follows: –
| 1st cut: | 120 acres + 80 bales of haylage |
| 2nd cut: | 142 acres plus 70 bales of haylage |
Last silage results:
| Dry Matter | ME MJ/kg | Sugars % | Crude Protein | pH | Ash % | D.Value % | |
| First Cut | 52.7 | 9.29 | 5.62 | 10.64 | 6.1 | 6.65 | 58.05 |
| Big Bale | 34.05 | 8.9 | 2.89 | 12.02 | 6.10 | 8.11 | 55.64 |
Rations using silage: Maximom barley, Hight Quality protein concentrate plus, molasses and a bespoke mineral.
Other Crops.
Winter Barley acres: Sown for 2020 harvest, 51 acres
Spring Barley: 2019: 109 acres. Yielding 3 tonnes acre @ 18-20% mc
2020: 80 acres
Beef cows
Numbers: 320
Main calving period: Spring to summer.
Breed: All home bred Limousin Simmental crosses. These are bulled with either Simmental, Limousin, or Charolais bulls.
Marketing: Calves are mostly sold privately as stores.
Cows are sold deadweight
Sheep:
Numbering: 530
Main breed: Half bred with Suffolk tups
Lambing: End February. Scanning percentage, 2019, 182%
Marketing: Deadweight
Staff:
John and Stephen Paterson plus Colin Rae