airy Farmer Fred Williams is

one of the most familiar

faces on the black and white

scene, and many would describe

his life as a ‘remarkable success

story’. From humble beginnings in

1955, the 74-year-old has built up a

phenomenal enterprise, with his

400-Twilight herd of pedigree Hol-

steins universally well-known and

his AI company currently taking

the genetics industry by storm

Rhian Price catches up with him

for a trip down memory lane.

You’d be forgiven for thinking thatFred would be relaxing, now that he’sretired, but like most farmers I knowretirement doesn’t sit comfortablywith the dairy entrepreneur. So its notsurprising that as I enter the kitchenI’m met by Mrs. Williams who kindlypoints me in the direction of the calfshed, where I find Fred indulginghimself in the latest young stockwithin his herd.It was his ‘eye’ for good stocwhich unknowingly changed his lifefor the better, when he purchased thebull calf Tre-dene JanAlidema in1963.“We didn’t re-alise how greathe was goingto be, and Inever thoughthe would cre-ate the oppor-tunities he didfor us”, saysFred, “without him we wouldn’t bewhere we are today.” Which is per-haps why a picture of the bull takepride of place in kitchen, as a starkreminder of his achievements.The bull, which went on to win 43championships, later caught the eyeof a German farmer at the RoyalAgricultural show, who suggestedselling the bulls semen, -giving the

proud owner food for thought.

“It was simply something that I hadn’tthought of before then”, exclaimsFred. But the exciting prospect soonturned into a reality, making Mr.Williams the first private breeder tomarket semen from his own bull andcatapulting him into the realms of theAI industry.“The license change was a majorturning point for us. At first you wereonly allowed to sell 750 straws from ayoung sire, until proven, but within inshort while the rules were changedand any quantity was salable. Fromthen on we started selling globally, toEurope, the US and Australia”. The AI company, which now operatesunder the World Wide Sires Incorpo-rated banner, has come a long waysince its establishment as SemenWorld Limited in 1965. The previouscompany enjoyed much success withoutstanding sires such as TredeneJan Alidema and Descales Midnight.“The success of the business, enter-ing into the AI world as we did, wasbased purely on the fact that we had

such awonderfulsire tomarket.However,eventuallythe busi-ness drewtoo large

to behan-dled

in the wayit was, hence we formed SemenWorld Limited and then eventually wewere given the opportunity to link upwith World Wide Sires US”.“It was a huge decision to make andit wasn’t one to entered into likely,however it has been one of greatbenefit to the company, really pro-pelling it into the UK market”. Although, Fred admits that his

achievements would not have beenpossible without the immense sup-port and dedication of his family.“I’m very fortunate to have my daugh-ter Marion, whose depth of knowl-edge gained during the years spent

managing Semen World has left her

in a position to take over the com-

pany and it goes without saying thatthe company wouldn’t be where it istoday without the enthusiastic andhard-working sales team. Over theyears we have been blessed to haveinvaluable reps,which are a creditto the company”.Whilst 43-year-old Marion now man-ages the business,her brother Grahamruns the farm, whichnow comprises of 180milking cows and 200plus followers.Previously a Friesianherd, the Twilight herdis now 100% Holstein.Fred’s passion for thebig and beautiful ani-mals started following a visit toCanada in 1982. “The Friesians weren’t producingenough milk and we wanted a moremodern cow”, he explains, “we onlywanted the best and thats why wetravelled so far in search for the cowswe wanted, and when you find thebest Holstein, your dealing with cowsthat have a lot of power, with highmilk yield and importantly, we findthem docile animals to work with”,which was a key deciding factor con-sidering Fred has struggled to get hisnow 73-year-old wife out of the par-lor.“My biggest success has been marry-ing a farmers daughter, who hasbeen a tremendous support in thebusiness and shares my love forcows”.The couple, who have been married

for fifty four years, are now slowingthe pace at the family farm near Usk.However, the dairyman still indulgeshimself with new embryos and likesto travel to various sales, which hesays keeps him “busy”.His aim to breed ‘stylish cows withproduction and longevity, which are apleasure to milk’ continues and hestill places huge importance in thefour generation pedigree. He adds,“I’ve never varied my belief in confor-mation, good feet, legs and udders

are the keyfactors forlongevity”.With a wealthof experienceand a widerepertoire ofachievementsFred hasplenty of ad-vice to offeryoung breederenthusiasts,once like him-self.

”You only getwhat you buy, so firstly you must buythe best, thats how you get a greatherd. But most importantly, never for-get that any herd of cows are only asgood as the person in charge”. As modest as he may be, Fred hasachieved a lot in his lifetime, but he’sdetermined not to give up yet, “I justwant to concentrate on breeding sothat we continue to produce the bestwe can and hopefully one day we’llget back in the show ring”!

Black & white makes Gold How Farm er Fred Williams hit the Jackpo t in the Dairy Industry

Cow Talk

D

My biggest suc-

cess has been

marrying a

farmers daughter.

“ “

You only get

what you buy,

so you must

buy the

best.

““

Cow Talk