Blog: NFU dairy board member Janette Prince reports from an inspiring Women in Dairy conference

She writes:

‘Through change comes opportunity’. This was the title of this year’s Women in Dairy conference and it also nicely sums up how Women in Dairy and its regional groups have grown and provided a fantastic networking opportunity, in addition to others that we already make use of.

Now in its third year, the conference was well supported and had a great positive feel. Tim Downes, a dairy farmer from Shropshire, gave the welcome address, so the lads were not excluded!

Then Shelagh Hancock, CEO of First Milk, gave us an overview of the co-operative and the opportunities that she believes lie ahead. Challenges yes, but Brexit, health, our natural resources and consumer choice all provide the industry with opportunity.
 

Currently, 84% of people do some online shopping, and smartphones and the internet will change how we all shop over the next 10 years. We have to rise to that challenge, because with it will come the need for more consumer engagement and transparency in how food is produced.

Volatility is the new norm and will drive efficiencies. Shelagh was very clear with her message that although farmers need to be profitable, it needs to be at a level that provides a price point that is affordable for the consumer. I think there will need to be compromise with that equation particularly if higher welfare and enhanced production systems are part of the retailer remit!

We were then taken on a journey into the shopping basket of Ciara Gorst, head of agriculture at Co-op, which has a three-year agricultural strategy, focusing on British, fresh and welfare. The Co-op is cleverly positioned to provide convenience shopping with an emphasis on local. It is supplied by 192 dairy farmers with 325 million litres of milk per year and it is vital that these farmers benchmark and hit the highest levels of welfare standards. The organisation is actively benchmarking antibiotic usage and aims to have all of its farms BVD Free within three years.

When asked about the price of food, Ciara said she and the Co-op feel very strongly that consumers need to understand the ‘value’ of food and both consumers and retailers shouldn't pass any price cut back along the supply chain.

Denise Llewellyn and Neil Wilson from HSBC gave the banking view and were very clear that HSBC is open for business! Security and budgets are fine, but they are more interested in your track record and the dynamics of your business. Investment for the future is key and having a succession plan also gives the bank confidence to invest.

This led nicely on to Sian Bushell, who deals with this thorny subject with humour, sensitivity and a sound knowledge of how to deal with even the trickiest of situations.  Acknowledging everybody's worth in the business is key and that doesn't mean necessarily paying hard cash, but lack of communication can sometimes mean family members feel undervalued.

This can be the case at all stages of life within a business. There is great emphasis on sorting out succession to the benefit of the next generation, but I think it would all flow better if those taking a back seat could be valued too!
 

We are all living longer and retirement can be a step into financial uncertainty for some. Succession is a process and not an event, and it certainly should be seen as driving the business forward and not a hindrance to that business.

Balancing it all can be a challenge for all of us and Lucy Muir, a dairy farmer from Staffordshire, is no exception. She shared with us how she manages family, farming and still finds time for herself. If we stop and think about it, we all manage our time well, but sometimes hearing it from someone else helps you to fine tune and refocus on your priorities. Lucy certainly did that, but also admitted that she has had to revert to plan B! Life doesn't always adhere to our timetable, no matter how organised we would like to think we are.


Communication came to the fore throughout the day and to finish Paul Harris, CEO of training and coaching business Real Success, told us that ‘It is so much more than what you say’. He took us through the process of recognising how people all need to be communicated with differently and that's not just about how we talk to them, but more importantly how we actively listen. Whether that’s our team on the farm, our families or our colleagues, we need to learn to flex and to see it through their eyes.

This got me thinking, not for the first time, that maybe our media training often makes us focus too much on getting ‘our’ message across and that if we listened more actively to our customers, we could influence them in a better way. After all ‘Through change comes opportunity’.