Meet our new Farmer Focus writers: Brian Yates

We asked our new writers to answer a few quick-fire questions to give you a taster of what they’ll be talking about before they put pen to paper.

Name and location.

Brian Yates, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire

What type of farm do you run?

We are a family-run, 360-acre dairy farm. We milk 250 pedigree Holsteins and 10 of my wife’s pedigree Jerseys, with 300 followers.

See also: Read Brian’s first Farmer Focus column here

Describe yourself in four words.

Easy-going family man.

What hobbies do you have?

During my spare time, my favourite hobbies are showing cattle and the odd game of golf.

If you could change one thing about the agricultural industry what would it be and why?

I would change the milk price. We need a realistic milk price so that everyone has a chance to have money to reinvest.

Tell us about the funniest moment you have had on the farm.

We have a steep incline out of the farm, and during an icy spell one year, the milk tanker got stuck on the hill after collecting our milk. We chained a tractor to the front of the tanker and tried to pull. Unfortunately the tractor slid right back into the tanker. We then hooked a JCB on to the tractor, and we couldn’t believe it when we watched as the JCB slid back into the other two vehicles. A load of salt later, all of the machinery was back on level ground.

Name one gadget you couldn’t be without.

I couldn’t live without my laptop. From registering calves to paying bills, it’s so handy to have for day-to-day life.

If you could farm in any other country where would it be and why?

America – they do farming on a tremendous scale and they are so far advanced with their genetics.

What are your aspirations for the future?

To carry on breeding a functional cow that will survive in five or more lactations in a UK cubicle base system.