British farmers are constantly being advised to scrutinise what they do and adapt according to market demands, but is this happening when it comes to cattle breeding?
The 75th British Cattle Breeding conference will be held at Telford Hotel and Golf Resort, Shropshire, from Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th January, and will bring together experience and science from across the industry in the UK and beyond to create discussion, debate, vision and, as always, to guide the way in putting science into practice on British cattle farms.
With increasing pressures on dairy and beef farmers the opening session will question is it time for change? Keynote speakers will share their insight into the latest challenges and opportunities.
Opening the beef day with Lucianne Allen, the Sales and Marketing Director for Aubrey Allen exploring how the industry is faring in the war against meat, followed by John Giles of Promar International, who will give an insight from the soft fruit industry and how lessons learned in the past 10 to 15 years could benefit livestock farmers.
Opening the dairy day with Dr Judith Bryans, CEO Dairy UK who will explore UK and global consumers’ consumption trends, consumer sentiment and nutritional needs, and address some of the challenges that need to be overcome if the opportunities are to be maximised. Tim Brigstocke, Policy Director for RABDF, will share his personal reflections on genetic progress over his working life but challenge those working in the industry to better communicate with farmers.
Sustainable breeding is about more than net zero – profitability, welfare and consumer perception all need to be considered too. Our expert speakers, Arron Nerbas, Prof Geoff Simm, Terence Pye, Ben Nottage, Catherine Pickford and Prof Rainer Roehe will discuss the importance of avoiding carbon tunnel vision in our second conference session.
Producing functional cattle which perform well and thrive in our farming systems is the focus of the third session, with expert speakers Prof Phil Garnsworthy, Eric Fontanillas, Dr Lorna MacPherson, Gareth Mulligan, Wietse Duursma and Pieter van Goor. Covering fertility and feed efficiency for sustainable and profitable herds.
Cross-breeding can be a useful strategy to introduce hybrid vigour and boost sustainability. In session four we will hear from Richard Phelps, Aled Evans, James Evans, Rhys Davies, Sean Chubb and Tom Moore who will all explore the changes and gains they have made for a sustainable business.
The final session of each day will be dedicated to the Best of British Breeding, with a panel session consisting of farmers from throughout the UK, including John Scott, Bridget Borlase, Paul Williams, Nicholas Eccles, Colin Ferguson and Abi Reader.
Workshops during the conference will be dedicated to the Beef and Dairy sectors, with the beef workshop exploring Making Sucklers Sustainable and the dairy workshop covering the Practical Application of Genetics on Farm.
In our 75th year, we have endeavoured to create a programme that highlights the importance of breeding and genetics in creating a sustainable British cattle industry across all sectors commercial and pedigree alike.
View the full programme and book your place here