Seminar & NFU Forum

Gwyn Jones, Chairman of the NFU Dairy Board will be in the line-up of top speakers at a special NFU Forum at the Dairy Show next week.

The NFU Forum on Sustainable Supply Chains is one of the highlights of the Show which takes place at the Bath & West Showground next Wednesday, October 4th, and is sponsored by NatWest and Dairy Crest.

The broad thrust of the NFU’s  Producer Forum in the Bath & West Theatre - which is open to all in the industry – not just NFU members) - will be to address how the industry can strive to achieve a sustainable supply chain. 

The panel is made up of representatives from all of the key processors and buyers (including Dairy Crest, Frits Thissen, Counsellor for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality for the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Gwyn Jones, John Alvis, John Cottrell and Will Sanderson, from Milk Link) who will present their views on the question, and then open it up to debate from the floor.  Local farmer David Cotton chairs the event.

The aim is to allow farmers to have their say and let their voices be heard, particularly on issues relating to milk pricing. Offering free bacon rolls and coffee, the Forum runs from 10.30am to 12 noon.

The Forum will be followed at 12.15pm by a seminar  with Peter Edmondson from Shepton Veterinary Group, who will speak on “Practical Reduction of Cell Counts.”
In today's milk market farmers cannot afford to lose any cell count penalties, and so Peter Edmondson's seminar will highlight practical measures to reduce and maintain low cell counts. Peter is one of the partners of the Shepton Veterinary Group and has specialised on mastitis and milk quality issues for 20 years and works across the world helping to improve milk quality. As a practitioner the focus will be on practical measures and the steps that need to be taken to achieve success.

Some farmers have been culling and treating high cell count cows without achieving long term success and Peter will explain why this is unlikely to lead to success long term and what action needs to be taken. At the end of the mini seminar, farmers will have a clear detail of how to successfully approach the high cell count herd. Handout material will be provided and Peter will be at the Shepton Veterinary Group stand all day to answer questions or queries relating to mastitis and cell count problems.

And more information as well as lively debate is expected at the Speakers’ Corner stand throughout the day, making its first appearance at The Dairy Show, and where speakers include Farmers for Action founder David Handley.