The events offer farmers the opportunity to meet the UK-DCN Farm Liaison Team and see the work being carried out on commercial farms. Attendees will gain practical insight into how changes in breeding and grassland management can improve efficiency, carbon footprint and drive performance within dairy businesses.
The UK-DCN is working with over 50 dairy farms across the UK to put practical, farm-ready solutions for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into action. Led by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and funded by DEFRA, the project is driven by a UK-wide consortium of leading research institutions and industry organisations. The Northern Ireland UK-DCN Farm Network is managed by AgriSearch.
The Williamson family milk 90 autumn calving pedigree Holsteins on 110 acres. The herd yields 9,000 litres from under 3 tonnes of concentrates per cow. The herd 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.
The first farm walk will look at two main areas: 1) breeding; and 2) forage and grazing management.
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 Williamson. “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’ 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 complements the genetics in the herd but will also hopefully improve the environmental footprint 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 Mortons, 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 Williamson.
As well as containing ‘high-sugar’ grasses, which have been shown to result in better digestibility and protein utilisation, the late tetraploids in the Balmoral mix combined with mid-season diploid AberWolf will hopefully give a dense sward with high grazing and silage yields. AberGain is listed among the highest yielding perennial ryegrass varieties on the recommended lists.
Conclusion
“The meetings are about sharing what can work on a commercial farm,” says John Morrow, Agriculture Manager at AgriSearch. “Visiting farmers will leave with an improved understanding of how improving efficiency and profitability can go hand in hand with reducing emissions.”
All are welcome to attend. A light lunch will be provided to all those who register in advance. For further information and to register to attend visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-dairy-carbon-network-farm-walk-breeding-grazing-and-forage-management-tickets-1985994981451?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
