Returning to Telford on 22-24 January 2024,  the programme for the conference entitled 'Green Genes - Revolutionising cattle breeding for a sustainable future' is now available to view here.

The programme brings together a wealth of well-acclaimed UK and international academics and farmers.  This year for the first time there will be two bovine sessions assembling beef and dairy sectors to reveal how the latest innovations in plant breeding and methane mitigation through dietary intervention can help farmers meet Net-Zero.

This year's BCBC presentations will collect farmers and academia to understand how this can be achieved.

These include:

• Professor John Gilliland, farmer, and special advisor for AHDB, will talk about the Accelerating Ruminant Carbon Zero (ARCZero) project that he is leading.  The project comprises seven farms in Northern Ireland that are undertaking carbon audits, including the assessment of carbon stocks within soils and trees, with the aim of identifying where future management can be changed to accelerate their move towards net zero.
• Beef farmer Duncan Morrison, from Aberdeenshire, will reveal how he is running a profitable 240-head suckler herd that is delivering environmental credentials.
• The Brongain Farm team recently announced as British Farming Awards Beef Farmers of the Year 2023, finish dairy cross beef calves at Brongain Farm, Llanfechain. They will discuss how they are on track to produce carbon neutral beef by 2030 by harnessing better genetics, investing in research and development and mob grazing animals.
• Professor Elizabeth Magowan, from the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), will present the findings of a recent study that examined how the cattle industry could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions at a farm and national level.
• Scottish dairy farmer Rory Christie, who milks 1,100 spring-calving Jersey cross Holsteins, will reveal how he has helped create the world’s first crossbreeding index using genomic information, milk production and herd health data, as part of the ‘Fast Breeder’s’ project. Making individual mating decisions has helped him improve milk production by 500 litres per cow per year without increasing cow size or coming at the cost of other important traits.
• Bjørg Heringstad, a research scientist at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and Geno Breeding, will present the latest results of their green cow project aimed at breeding feed-efficient Norwegian Red cows.

Ben Harman, BCBC chairman, said the upcoming conference should not be missed: “I believe the cattle industry takes a disproportionate amount of blame for global warming.

“I also believe that we can offer solutions that will help reduce emissions from our industry and that will as a direct consequence improve our efficiency and ultimately our profitability.”

Take advantage of our Early Bird booking discounts where day delegate fees start from £186 (inc vat) and includes membership of the club for 2024.  Early Bird booking is available until 1 December 2023, bookings can be made online, click here to book your place.  As of 1 December, the day delegate fees will start from £210 (inc vat).  Student and young person rates are available, starting at £48 (inc vat) for a day delegate place.  Groups of five or more can book at the discounted rates up until 1 January 2024 - please contact the secretary for group booking details.

Please note that if you require accommodation, this can be booked on your behalf by the club and is charged separately and payable to the hotel on your departure (£118 per night).

Photo Credit:  @ Jenny Wood Photography