Last summer, 200 cows calved outdoors at Shandford Farm. Just one needed assistance. That single statistic speaks volumes about what’s earned the Mather family the Scottish Agriculture Awards’ Scotch Beef Farm of the Year title – a relentless focus on breeding cattle that work for you, not the other way round.
For most Scottish beef producers, certain times of the year means a rush to market. The Mather family – brothers Graeme, William and David, and next generations Graeme, Alistair, Scott and Grant – do things differently. Every fortnight, year-round, four to six Aberdeen Angus cattle leave the Brechin farm for Scott Brothers butchers in Dundee. They’re hitting a tight specification – 360-370kg carcasses – with such consistency that Graeme Jnr. can predict their value within £10 before they cross the weighbridge.
“I wanted to find a niche market,” Graeme explains. “People get focused on supplying supermarkets when there’s a wide range of markets out there if you’re willing to go and find them.”
Eight years ago, that search led him to Scott Brothers, a butcher who wanted Aberdeen Angus. Graeme was transitioning away from continental bulls. “There was a bit of surprise on both sides,” he laughs. The first trial lot sealed a partnership that’s redefined how the Mather family approach their 440-cow suckler herd.
“Graeme has come into the business with a vision to change what has gone before and target the butcher market 12 months a year,” noted the judges. “The Mather family have worked very hard to get there and have had great success in supplying Scott Brothers in Dundee with the exact specifications that they were looking for, with consistency. They achieve exceptional weaning rates and know their data inside out.”
The System Behind the Success
Year-round supply demands year-round thinking. Shandford runs split calving, with 125 spring cows indoors from late February to mid-April, then 200-220 summer cows outdoors from 10th May through June, and the rest retained heifers, calving inside. Between them, they deliver the continuous flow Scott Brothers needs.
“We’ve tightened the calving period up a lot,” Graeme notes. “Last year’s calving interval averaged 365 days, and heifers averaged just 23.8 months old at first calving.”
It’s all about efficiency. From 402 cows, they weaned 419 calves. There are no second chances. Empty cows and heifers move straight to the fattening system. “When you look at the data, cows that had a dead calf were often having another dead calf within a couple of years,” Graeme explains.
It’s a philosophy enabled by breeding their own replacements – something Graeme considers the operation’s biggest shift. “We’re breeding the type of heifers we’ve probably been trying to buy for 20, 30, maybe 40 years.”
The switch to Aberdeen Angus bulls in 2017, combined with a closed herd policy focused on health status, transformed what was possible. Annual health testing and the culling discipline drove numbers down initially but built a foundation for exceptional performance.
Data: The Silent Partner
Walk into any shed or field at Shandford and you’ll find cattle that exist in two forms – the physical animal and its digital twin. Electronic tagging has been standard practice for almost 20 years, well ahead of any government policy discussions. The family’s records stretch back over 40 years, a goldmine of useful insight and visible trends.
“Every year after we’ve finished our animals, I do a slaughter report on the programme. It lists the slaughter details by sire. We can look at how sires have performed and we’ll basically take away the bottom sire every year. We’ve done that for 30-plus years.”
The insights can be stark. Analysis revealed a 110-day finishing gap between the best and worst sires on farm. “Multiply that up over 400 cows and it comes to an eyewatering amount of money if you weren’t on top of the data,” Graeme says.
But data alone isn’t enough. When his father went to buy a bull five years ago, Graeme provided a shortlist based on EBVs. His father called back: one wasn’t there, two couldn’t walk properly, another he didn’t like the look of. Only one was suitable. “That bull went straight to the top of the ranks for us on performance,” Graeme recalls. “It’s like baking a cake. If you don’t put in the right ingredients, it doesn’t rise. You’ve got to use all the tools available.”
Now those tools are even more accessible. The system Graeme uses lives on his phone, iPad, laptop, and handheld reader. Time saved on paperwork adds up across 1,016 cattle – the number currently on farm, at their lowest point before spring calving begins again.
The Economics of Consistency
Managing such volume across 5,000 acres requires the whole family working different parts of the business. Graeme handles all livestock records, tagging, and calving data. Feed production is self-sufficient: malting barley that doesn’t make the grade goes to the cattle, along with homegrown silage and, this year, beans from an Angus estate as a protein source.
The finishing system flows continuously. Cattle are weighed at every handling. At 550kg, they move onto a more intensive finishing diet. Everything finishes on farm: steers, heifers that don’t hold to the six-week bull turnout, empty and cull cows. Most head to Scott Brothers fortnightly, and the rest go to Aberdeen & Northern Marts or direct to McIntosh Donald.
The butcher relationship brings advantages beyond cashflow. “We’re supplying a consistent product to them, and we’re working at a tighter spec than you would be to a mainline slaughterhouse,” Graeme explains. “But there’s benefits for both parties.”
He gets carcass data by lunchtime on slaughter day. Recent cattle went 622 and 624kg liveweight, hitting 369 and 371kg carcasses. Right in the sweet spot.
Looking Ahead
Graeme is quietly optimistic about beef farming’s future, though he’s clear-eyed about challenges. “Labour would be the biggest challenge, and that’s probably one of the reasons why we’ve changed to doing what we’re doing.”
The operation is adding pedigree cows now, with bulls becoming available for sale – a new revenue stream built on genetics proven in their own commercial system.
For farmers considering similar changes, Graeme’s advice is straightforward: “Don’t be scared to use data. Don’t be put off by the technology because it’s really not that complicated. In the long term, it saves a lot of time.”
Then he adds the harder truth: “I’m a firm believer in life that if you’re doing anything, you’ll get the most benefit for a bit of effort. If you’re not willing to put in the effort, you don’t deserve to get the benefits out the other end.”
The judges for the award, which was sponsored by ABP and supported by Quality Meat Scotland, concluded, “Shandford Farm demonstrates bold vision and commitment to change. Entering the business with a clear goal to supply the butcher market year-round, the Mather family has worked tirelessly to meet exacting specifications with consistency, earning praise from Scott Brothers in Dundee. With exceptional weaning rates and a deep understanding of their data, they exemplify precision, progress, and passion in beef farming. Among the outstanding finalists, they are truly deserving winners.”
