By reducing clinical mastitis by 26% during peak winter risk periods, Nixon’s Farms Ltd has improved udder health, reduced milk losses and increased efficiency. This demonstrates how better disease control can directly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per litre of milk.
Nixon’s Farms Ltd is an autumn-block, pasture-based dairy unit milking 373 ProCross cows. As part of the UK Dairy Carbon Network (UK-DCN), the farm identified mastitis control as a key opportunity to improve not only animal health and welfare, but also whole-system efficiency and GHG emissions.
Mastitis has a direct impact on a farm’s carbon footprint. Each case reduces milk yield, leads to discarded milk and often requires additional treatment and labour which increases emissions per litre of milk sold. Improving udder health, therefore, is not just a welfare or cost issue, it is central to producing milk more efficiently and sustainably.
Historic milk recording and clinical mastitis data at the farm revealed a clear seasonal pattern, with a consistent spike in cases between October and January during the housing period. Both the number and severity of cases increased at this time, pointing to environmental and management-related risk factors. Farm owner Will worked closely with vet Paula from Haywood Farm Vets to better understand the drivers and identify practical, evidence-based changes.
Will Nixon said: “Taking a structured look at our mastitis data really changed how we approached the problem. Once we could see the seasonal pattern clearly, it became much easier to focus on the housing period and make practical changes that the whole team could get behind. The improvements in clinical cases have been encouraging, but just as importantly we’re producing more milk from the same cows with less disruption and waste.”
A structured Mastitis Control Plan combined detailed data analysis with an on-farm review of facilities and routines. This confirmed that environmental mastitis during lactation was the primary challenge, particularly during high-risk housing periods, and provided a framework for targeted action.
Following the review, a series of practical changes were introduced. Post-milking teat disinfection was improved through the introduction of a new lance system, while all mastitis cases began to be consistently sampled, recorded and categorised to strengthen decision-making. Conductivity collars were installed to enable earlier detection and faster intervention.
At the same time, housing design and cow flow were adjusted to reduce environmental exposure, including improving access to feed space and refining fresh cow management practices. The dry-off strategy was also tightened, with more targeted treatment of high cell count cows to maintain strong cure rates.
By winter 2025–26, these changes were already delivering results. The large seasonal spikes seen in previous years had largely been avoided, with clinical mastitis incidence during the peak winter period falling from 30 to 22 cases per 100 cows per year – a reduction of 26%. While December and January remained the highest-risk months, fewer severe cases meant less disruption to production. Cell count performance also remained strong, supported by effective dry period management and closer monitoring of trends.
Reducing mastitis is now contributing to lower emissions intensity on the farm. More saleable milk is being produced from the same herd, with less waste and fewer resources required for treatment and replacement animals. Healthier cows are maintaining performance for longer, helping to spread emissions over greater lifetime output.
Nixon’s Farms Ltd will continue to monitor progress through regular milk recording and quarterly reviews, with a focus on maintaining control during high-risk periods. This demonstrates how a structured, data-led approach to mastitis control can deliver tangible benefits for both farm performance and environmental impact, showing that improving animal health is a practical and effective route to reducing GHG emissions on dairy farms.