PhD student Amy Jackson is the latest speaker to be added to the programme at this month’s British Cattle Breeders Club Conference (Jan 21 to 23). Her title ‘Year-round housed dairy cows – what do the public think and does it matter?’ draws on her research and wealth of experience working in PR and communications, advising a wide range of farming organisations on how to manage contentious issues and consult stakeholders on novel farming practices.

Amy will talk about new research investigating the attitudes people hold about year-round housed dairy cows, other aspects of cow management and milk production, and how factors such as age, gender, experiences and value system might affect their preferences.

Amy is based in the School for Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus, studying consumer perceptions and cultural values around the housing, management and wellbeing of dairy cows. She graduated with an economics-based Masters Degree in Farm Business Organisation and Management from the University of Aberdeen in 1991 and has since worked in the agricultural and industrial sectors, spending more than 20 years in PR and communications.