Seminar looks at the bigger picture

The Large Herd Seminar will include presentations by Martin Green, Professor of Cattle Health and Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham; Thomas R Overton, Associate Professor, Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, US; and Barry Bradford, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University, US.

Dinner speaker on the first day will be Jordan Leak, Operations Manager for Aardema Dairies, in Jerome, Idaho, who manages 25,000 cows on seven dairies, varying in size from 1,000 to 13,000 cows.

The event is organised jointly by Lillico Attlee, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned agricultural merchants, and the Evidence Based Veterinary Consultancy, a dairy management practice and consultancy in Penrith.

Warwick Bastard, of Lillico Attlee, said this week: “The only way to offset increasing costs is through greater productivity, and the only way to achieve that is by improving herd management.

“We have brought together a world-class group of speakers to help producers to address these challenges, including a number from the United States, which has just come through a period when the milk price fell to its lowest level in recent history, equivalent to about 16p/litre, which is well below the cost of production, even for many of the best herds. There is much that UK producers can learn from their experiences.”

Tickets for the full Large Herd Seminar are priced at £140, including dinner on Tuesday, June 21, and lunch on Wednesday, June 22. Delegates who wish to attend on just the first day, will pay £50, or £80 with dinner, and the Wednesday programme is £75, including lunch, with a discounted rate of £45 available to dairy farmers/herd managers. Call 01622 718062.

The NFU has announced a dairy summit which will focus on the European Commission proposals for the sector, at Stoneleigh Park, on April 20. Register interest with [email protected]/