Dairy farmers will get the opportunity to hear about future farming policy and quiz Government Minsters and experts in a free series of webinars organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).

The Business and Policy Conference, sponsored by Lely, Barclays and ForFarmers, traditionally takes the form of a one-day event, but will this year consist of three bite-sized webinars taking place on 2, 4 and 6 November.

Farmers were told there was no ‘silver bullet’ when it came to reducing emissions on farm and that planning needs to start now.

Tom Gill, Head of Sustainability at Promar International, said farmers needed to start measuring and monitoring their emissions and called on producers to start having conversations with companies about emissions

Calf rearing is the beginning and the end of a dairy business, get it right and heifers will go on to make money for a business, but get it wrong it will cost a business, delegates at this year’s Women in Dairy Conference were told.

Profitability and business success are determined by how well dairy businesses are structured, delegates were told at the recent Women in Dairy Conference.

Grace O’ Dwyer from HSBC UK, the event’s principal sponsor, speaking at the virtual event on Wednesday (30 September), which attracted almost 100 delegates, outlined four factors that are the foundations of a strong business.

Dairy farmer Karen Halton from Cheshire has scooped this year’s prestigious Dairy Industry Woman of the Year award at the virtual Women in Dairy (WID) conference held on 30th September.

Karen is the fourth woman to win the award, sponsored by HSBC UK, beating off stiff competition from two other finalists: Abi Reader from Glamorganshire, and Hannah Lawrence from Haverfordwest.

A last-ditch attempt to get dairy workers included on the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) Shortage Occupation List (SOL) has been rejected following a four-month consultation.

The news released today (29 September) revealed occupations should as butchers, bricklayers and welders would be added to the list, but that farmers would not.

A renowned researcher who has been instrumental in driving forward the genetic development of UK dairy cattle has been awarded the prestigious Princess Royal Award.

Professor Mike Coffey, team leader of the Animal Breeding and Genomics Team at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and head of EGENES, was presented with the award by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal today (Monday 14 September).

Business demands for Dairy-Tech 2021 are high with over 70% of the stand space already being booked up by existing exhibitors before going on general release today (7 September).

More than 180 businesses have already secured their stand space since the event was launched on 10 August with several exhibitors looking for more space.

Stand space is now open for all new and existing exhibitors with an early bird discount rate running until 18th October. Businesses are urged to get their stand orders in soon with exhibition halls filling up fast.