The autumn block-calving herd of 90 pedigree Holsteins is managed to make the most of both grazing and conserved forage. Cows are turned out to grass from April through to September, while being housed and buffer-fed a total mixed ration (TMR) at night.
“We’ve always focused on getting as much as possible from forage,” explains Elaine. “It keeps concentrate use under control and gives us a system that works for the cows and for us.”
Ivan and Lewis manage the farm’s 110 acres of grazing and silage ground, with a clear objective each season to maximise forage quality and yield. Perennial ryegrass swards are managed to deliver three cuts of silage a year, alongside productive grazing during the summer months.
Rather than standing still, the family saw the UK Dairy Carbon Network (UK-DCN) a project led by AFBI, as an opportunity to build on what already works. By taking a closer look at breeding practices alongside forage and grazing management, they hope to make impactful, practical improvements that will enhance overall efficiency and reduce emissions per litre of milk, without compromising herd performance.
Why join the UK-DCN?
In their first year in the project, the Williamsons chose to focus on two areas that matter to the whole family: 1) breeding; 2) forage and grazing management.
“We’re open to anything that will help future-proof the farm,” says Elaine. “We like to think we’re progressive, but there’s always more that can be done. Having access to expert, independent advice through the UK-DCN was the big appeal for us.”
Focus area: Breeding
Breeding has long been central to decision-making on the Williamson farm. The ideal cow, they say, must perform in both halves of their system: producing high volumes of milk while housed in winter, and maintaining milk quality, health and fertility when grazing through the summer.
An early adopter of genomic testing, the family began testing all female youngstock three years ago through a service provided by their local vets.
“We’ve always had a drive to improve,” says Elaine. “Genomic results allow us to make informed breeding decisions from high-reliability data.”
Through the UK-DCN project, Elaine selected the ‘Breeding for Reduced Methane’ mitigation option, keen to make better use of existing on-farm data and benefit from unbiased input from the AHDB genetics team. Using a herd genetic report, the family can clearly see the traits where the herd is already strong and where there is scope for improvement.
With project support, bull selection criteria have now been set to address those areas, while also incorporating the AHDB EnviroCow index, which helps breed more environmentally friendly cows by improving production, longevity and feed efficiency.
“Having the selection criteria in place allows us to work with our Farm Liaison Officer to choose a bull team that not only compliments the genetics in the herd but will also hopefully improve the environmental efficiency of milk production as well,” says Elaine.
Focus area: Forage and grazing management
Alongside breeding, the family wanted to explore opportunities within the UK-DCN project to further improve forage and grazing performance. In particular, they were interested in reseeding with high-performing grass varieties. Historically, the Williamsons aimed to reseed 5% of the farm annually.
Following advice from their agronomist, the Williamsons selected the Balmoral grass seed mix from Morton’s, which includes varieties such as AberWolf, AberAvon and AberGain. Despite challenging weather conditions across Northern Ireland in late September 2025, they successfully completed a 20-acre reseed in autumn 2025.
“We got the seed in the ground on the 12th September before the worst of the bad weather hit. Many unfortunately weren’t so lucky and have had to delay to spring,” explained Ivan.
As well as containing ‘high-sugar’ grasses, which have been shown to result in better digestibility and protein utilization, the late tetraploids in the Balmoral mix combined with mid-season diploid AberWolf will hopefully give a dense sward with very high grazing and silage yields. AberGain produces the highest total grazing yield, highest total silage yield and highest second cut digestible yield of any perennial ryegrass variety on the recommended lists.
Heavy rain later in the month caused some wash-out in parts of the reseeded fields, but this has been addressed by stitching in additional seed. Farm Liaison Officer, Stephen Shanks, will continue to monitor establishment and management, and is confident in progress so far.
Looking ahead
“We’re really pleased with the progress on farm so far” says Elaine. “We’ve already benefited from being part of the project and we’ll hopefully be able to integrate more mitigations, potentially in the areas of animal health or nutrition, as the project proceeds.”