How Welsh beef farm is in top third for low carbon emissions

A Welsh beef farm is achieving carbon emissions that are 17% lower than average.

Paul and Dwynwen Williams run a herd of 60 suckler cows and intensively finish 120 dairy-bred Holstein bulls a year at Cae Haidd, a Farming Connect focus farm near Llanrwst, finishing progeny on forage only.

Their suckler enterprise emits 33.65kg of CO₂e/kg (equivalent – methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide) deadweight.

This compares to an average of 40.68kg CO₂e for the 600 similar enterprises benchmarked in the SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College) AgRE Calc database.

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The analysis was carried out by researchers from SAC Consulting as part of a Farming Connect study, and has also enabled the Williams’ to identify areas for improvement.

For the dairy beef enterprise, emissions were higher than the 12.59kg CO₂e/kg deadweight average for the benchmark farms in the database, but it still generates a lower carbon footprint per kg of beef than the suckler beef system.

It emitted 14.48kg CO₂e/kg deadweight equivalent, with each animal consuming 271kg purchased feed and 4.94t homegrown forage.

The reason the dairy beef enterprise was higher is because benchmark farms are all indoor intensive dairy bull beef units while Cae Haidd is the only grass-based dairy beef rearing unit, explains Simon Travis, of SAC Consulting.

Dairy bull fattening systems generally have an advantage over steer finishing systems on carbon emission calculations because the carbon emissions of the complete life cycle in beef suckler herds, including all the breeding animals, must be factored into the calculation, he says.

“Dairy bred beef calves that have been bought in do not carry this burden from breeding,’’ says Mr Travis.

Paul Williams © Debbie James

How emissions are kept low

The Williams’ are able to keep emissions low by achieving good liveweight gain from home-grown forage, explains Mr Travis.

Homegrown silage use a suckler cow place a year at Cae Haidd in the year to September 2019 was 8.764t freshweight, with progeny achieving a liveweight gain of 0.75kg/day.

Cae Haidd’s carbon performance is helped by efficient forage production.

Each year 10% of the farm is reseeded with ryegrass and all permanent pasture is less than six years old; this ensures pastures remain productive and achieve good yields and quality.

Meanwhile, 6.6ha of woodland mitigates emissions through soil carbon sequestration, the process of capturing atmospheric carbon in trees and soil.

Cattle from both beef enterprises are at grass in the summer, when they are run on a rotational grazing system of paddocks and electric fences.

Stock are housed in the winter since the upland farm sits in the foothills of Snowdon and, at 2.7m/year, has a high rainfall.

Areas for improvement

The Williams’ say that understanding where emissions are generated in their business will allow improvements to be prioritised.

They are targeting manure and fertiliser management as areas for improvement – GPS guidance for application could help reduce their fertiliser inputs from the current 40kg/ha N.

They also aim to improve the feed value of their silage by increasing energy and protein levels from the present 11.5MJ/kg dry matter (DM) and 10.8g/kg crude protein (CP) for clamp silage and 10.0MJ/kg DM and 13.8g/kg CP for baled silage.