A Seminar Suited For All Dairy Farm Staff
UK - A reminder has gone out to all staff employed on dairy farms to sign up for this year's Large Herd Seminar in June.Practical and technical advice will be available at the Seminar in Gloucestershire. New to the event are practical small group workshops, alongside the usual programme.
Lead sponsored by Elanco and Zinpro and taking place on 24-26 June 2014 at Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel, Wotton-under-Edge, the new look three day event has been geared towards providing managers and staff with practical take home messages to help boost productivity.
Under the theme of “Total Dairy”, a top line up of global dairy experts will be on hand to offer the latest thinking in how to manage five main critical aspects effecting the modern dairy herd; the cow, the feed, the calf, the feet and the people.
Delegates will be able to select which parts of the programme they wish to attend depending on their area of interest. This gives the option to join small group classroom or farm-based workshops, as well as listen to presentations in the seminar room, explains Warwick Bastard of Model Nutrition Dairy Consulting, who organises the event along with Evidence Based Veterinary Consultancy (EBVC).
“Every workshop has been aimed at the practical application of what has been talked about in the presentation. This is a unique opportunity to hear from some of the top researchers and extension personnel on how to make a genuine difference on your farm,” he says.
Anyone interested in feeding may choose to go along to Bill Stone’s classroom based and on-farm workshops looking at TMR auditing, or listen to Trevor DeVries talking about how to trouble shoot feed bunk management.
Herdsman then might like to hear Sandra Godden’s thoughts on the pros and cons of group housing and computerised feeding systems for pre-weaned calves. And for farm managers, “Dairy Coach” Tom Wall’s classroom-based workshops will be a great way to discuss staff management challenges.
“We’ve also got practical on farm demonstrations with world leaders in hoof health, Karl Burgi and Christer Bergsten”, says Warwick.
“Those that have heard them speak before have already noted how far behind the USA the UK is in term of foot trimming technique, so it will be a great way to hear the latest thinking in lameness prevention.”
The Dairy Group’s Ian Ohnstad will also be doing a series of talks looking at how to optimise milking systems and running an interactive workshop on practical mastitis control.
Warwick urges people to sign up now and book hotel rooms as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Industry or veterinary businesses can also take advantage of a special discount available for groups which include three or more farmers.
TheCattleSite News Desk