Graham’s Family Dairy has won The Scottish Agriculture Awards’ prestigious Dairy Farm of the Year award, sponsored by GEA and supported by AgriScot. Led by Dairy Farm Manager Leanne Bartram, the achievement marks a significant milestone for a family business with close to nine decades of farming experience.
When the judges arrived at Mains of Boquhan Farm, they found a dairy operation where exceptional Jersey cows met cutting-edge facilities and technology, all maintained to the highest standards.
“We were nominated for a Cream Award and then we were nominated for this one all at the same time,” Leanne recalls. “I’ve only been managing here for just over two years now, so to have these come around so quickly was really unexpected. But it was a great experience to have the judges on farm and to hear their comments.”
The timing was particularly significant for Graham’s, with Robert Graham revealing at the awards ceremony that this was their first nomination for such an accolade. While the company regularly wins awards for its products, recognition for the dairy farm itself marked new territory.
The Graham’s team marked the occasion by collecting their award plaque at AgriScot, one of the UK’s premier agricultural business events.
AgriScot Chairman Gilmour Lawrie, who was one of the judges, said “What impressed us most was the exceptional attention to detail throughout the operation. The Jersey cows and youngstock were in superb condition, and the recently upgraded dairy facility demonstrated modern milk production at its best. It is a great example of how technology and traditional farming skills can work together to achieve excellence.”
A Modern Foundation
The farm’s state-of-the-art facility, completed in 2023, was only just up and running when Leanne took over management. While she wasn’t involved in the planning or construction, the new site gave her something many dairy managers can only dream of – a purpose-built, advanced facility with room to implement her management vision.
“We are one of many fantastic facilities now around the country,” she says modestly. “But with it being a greenfield site and everything being brand new, and with the thought that’s gone into the frontage of the shed to allow us to have more public footfall through the farm, it just gives it that sort of finishing touch.”
Robotic milkers, automated feed pushers, and slurry collectors maximise efficiency, freeing up the all-female livestock team to focus on what matters most – the welfare and productivity of their 300-strong Jersey herd.
The Jersey Advantage
The choice of Jersey cattle is deliberate and strategic. As Graham’s only owned farm, Mains of Boquhan produces milk specifically for the company’s award-winning premium Gold Top and Gold Smooth labels.
Currently milking around 260 cows from the 300-head herd, the farm achieves a 28-litre daily average. With some cows producing an impressive 50 litres and others at the end of lactation producing less, the operation delivers approximately 14,000 litres every other day.
Leanne’s current focus is on developing consistency and identifying the cows that work best for their system. “We’re just concentrating on trying to develop a bit more uniformity within the herd and the kind of cow we’re looking for,” she explains.
A Day Built Around the Cows
Leanne’s typical day starts early, around half past three in the morning. “I like to come out early when it’s quiet,” she says. “It gives me an opportunity to see the cows and then feed the calves before the rest of the team come in, and before my phone starts going.”
This early start serves multiple purposes. It allows her quality time with the animals for observation and calf feeding, while also providing flexibility for family life and the school run. The approach exemplifies her management philosophy – making time for what matters most.
Ruby, the herdsperson, then comes in to handle the morning routine with the cows. The robotic system provides a list of cows that need collecting, and any animals requiring attention for AI, foot trimming, or veterinary work are automatically drafted off by the robots, making the process seamless.
The Robot Revolution
The milking system operates on a fully free-access basis, allowing cows to choose when they’re milked. The robots know which cows are due and will reject those that aren’t, creating what Leanne describes as “really natural cow behaviour.” Cows find their own space and time within the day for milking, with the farm targeting over three milkings per cow daily.
“Jerseys are real food monkeys,” Leanne laughs. The team carefully balances what’s fed in the passage with robot behaviour. If visits start falling off, it’s usually a sign they’re feeding too much in the passage. Cows appearing on the collection list are typically either very fresh, first lactation heifers still figuring out the system, or late lactation cows naturally looking to dry themselves off.
Attention to Detail: The Winning Formula
When asked about the secret to maintaining such excellent body condition across both the milking herd and youngstock, Leanne points to the team’s meticulous approach. “We do pride ourselves in our real attention to detail, and obviously the automated system means we don’t lose those hours a day in the parlour, so we definitely spend more time with the cows.”
Every cow wears a collar measuring activity and rumination, providing early warnings of potential issues. This data allows proactive management, rather than reactive. “It can give us a really early insight into a potential issue, even if it just is a grumbling lameness that’s coming or a cow that’s not cycling as we would like,” Leanne explains. “It allows us that early intervention, which hopefully saves us the antimicrobials and milk out of the tank.”
The approach extends to youngstock management, where the team conducts extensive daily liveweight gain measurements. “We’re always making sure that, depending on the time of year and the different challenges, we’re adjusting our protocols and changing, where needed, to make sure we’re still hitting the targets we’re setting.”
Investing in the Future
For Leanne, the dry cows are the most important group on the farm. “They are the future of everything,” she insists. “If we have a healthy dry cow, we’ll have a healthy calf, and the main milking herd will ultimately look after itself in years to come, if we put in that groundwork early on.”
This philosophy is producing strong results. The farm runs at less than one percent mortality rate with youngstock, an achievement Leanne attributes to rigorous colostrum management and careful monitoring.
While the calves are housed in mixed age groups and airspace which is not ideal, the strict protocols compensate. “Disease challenges and pneumonia challenges are different year-on-year and month-on-month,” Leanne notes. “Monthly weights and close nutritional oversight allow the team to make adjustments in real-time rather than waiting until problems become obvious.”
Sharing Knowledge
The farm’s commitment to education and transparency was also noted by the judges. Leanne thinks they’ve probably hosted every young farmer club in the country, along with school groups of all ages. The facility also welcomes supermarket buyers, runs CowSignals courses, and has hosted several international vet training days, as well as training days for their local practice.
These visits serve multiple purposes. Educating the next generation, supporting vet training with practical hands-on experience, and showcasing modern dairy farming to buyers and marketing teams. The farm’s design, with its public-facing frontage, makes it ideal for this community engagement role.
Looking Ahead
Despite the accolades, Leanne sees plenty of room for improvement. “We’re basically looking to be as efficient as possible,” she says. Future growth is on the horizon, driven by strong demand for Jersey milk. However, expansion would require new youngstock facilities. “The growth, I hope, will come within our herd as well as other parts of the business,” Leanne says.
The award represents more than personal achievement for Leanne. It’s validation of a management approach that prioritises animal welfare, embraces technology while maintaining hands-on stockmanship, and recognises that excellence emerges from consistent attention to detail.
For a farm manager just two years into the role, winning Dairy Farm of the Year is a significant achievement. For Graham’s Family Dairy, it’s the recognition of nearly ninety years of farming expertise combined with a fresh vision for modern dairy production.
