This month I joined part of a small delegation of farming trade bodies to meet Defra Minister, Daniel Zeichner and Baroness Hayman, to discuss the welfare of farmed animals. From a dairy perspective the UK Dairy Cattle Welfare Strategy, launched in 2023, has cross industry support – from UK Chief Vets to the supply chain. One reason for the widespread endorsement is the recognition that having a strategy not only improves welfare for the animal, but has huge trading benefits.

This year’s Dairy Tech stood out as our biggest and best yet.

As I welcomed show delegates at our breakfast reception on the Barclay’s stand, I reflected on the positive strives in the industry over the last twelve months. We’ve seen hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment pledged to UK dairy processing, along with multiple mergers and significant acquisitions. 

I write this update fresh on the back of conference season, where I was able to hear the Secretary of State, Steve Reed, set out his priorities for farming in the year ahead – including kick-starting a new Food Strategy that he is keen to collaborate on, the announcement that legislation for new precision breeding regulations will be laid before Parliament by the end of March, and the commitment to increase public procurement of British produce.

This is my first Milk Digest since joining RABDF earlier this month. In just a few weeks I’ve been impressed at the breadth of activity this small charity undertakes and have enjoyed spending time with the dedicated and talented team of people who work here.

This will be the last Milk Digest I write before our new Chief Executive, Hayley Campbell Gibbons, joins the team next month. There’s a lot of excitement about what RABDF has been involved in recently, and even more for Hayley to get her teeth into as she takes the helm.

September has been a positive month at RABDF, beginning with the announcement of our new CEO, Hayley Campbell-Gibbons, who will be joining us in November.

Next month marks the 10th anniversary of Women in Dairy, with the celebratory conference taking place at the Stoneleigh Abbey on Thursday 19th September. This year’s event will highlight the significant achievements over the past decade, showcasing the progress in breaking down barriers and increasing diversity in the industry.

Labour's resounding victory in the recent General Election (4 July), will undoubtedly bring change for UK agriculture, with the overall industry consensus being that of a positive one.

In the coming months, we hope to meet with Steve Reed, who now assumes the position of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Agriculture, a role he has been shadowing since September 2023.

There are only three weeks to go until Down to Earth at Grosvenor Farms in Cheshire on 3rd July, and what an event it is shaping up to be.

Our top regenerative agriculture event for livestock producers is jam-packed with presentations, practical talk stations, and farm tours of this renowned, high-yielding Holstein herd.

It was great to see some of you at the NMR/RABDF Gold Cup open day last week at Bisterne Farms in Hampshire to celebrate George Brown and his team winning the competition in 2023.

This week, we announced Matt Knight's departure from RABDF following his decision to pursue a new challenge. Matt's commitment and leadership will be a huge loss to the association. Speaking for the trustees, we wish Matt every success in the future and in his career.

If you came along to Dairy-Tech earlier this month, then we hope you agree that it was one of the best Dairy-Tech events we have hosted to date. Not only did we have record numbers attend, but we also attracted big names such as Google, who delivered our keynote session discussing all things consumers.

Excitement is building at Dairy House as the countdown to Dairy-Tech 2024 begins.

Representatives from across the livestock sector are being invited to attend a TB Advisory Service (TBAS) conference, to hear a panel of experts reflect on the past 10 years of the TB Eradication Scheme for England and look forward to what the next 15 years may bring.

This month saw us celebrate the best that dairy farming offers when the 2022 Gold Cup winners, the Logan family from Holehouse Farm, Ayrshire, opened their gates to over 600 visitors. 

There's no better tonic than hearing farmers speaking positively about their future in a thriving dairy industry. We have been exposed to it recently at our regenerative farming events- Down to Earth, and also when speaking to former attendees of our Entrepreneurs in Dairying (EID) course ahead of the 2023 course launch this month.