Hundreds of people from the sector came together for this year’s conference held once again at Worcester rugby club’s Sixways Stadium.
The event consisted of several talks including dairy farmer and NFU dairy board member Gemma Smale-Rowland, Graham Wilkinson, Senior Director of Agriculture at Arla Foods, Beth Dooley from the University of Exeter, Livestock Sustainability Consultant Dr Jude Capper, Westpoint Farm Vet Sarah Tomlinson and Veterinary Advisor Dr Ailsa Milnes.
The Dairy Industry Woman of the Year Award, sponsored by HSBC, was once again be awarded at the conference. Presented to the individual who has demonstrated the core values of Women in Dairy – connect, share and inspire – the award aims to celebrate the achievements of women in the British dairy industry.
Finalists this year were:
• Gemma Smale-Rowland- 4th generation dairy farmer from Cornwall and NFU Dairy board member
• Lynsey Awde- runs an energy self-sufficient dairy farm in Cumbria
• Becki Leach- Senior consultant at Kite and has a large social media presence to influence the success and positive reputation of British Agriculture
• Mary Quicke- WINNER- produces world class cheese and founder of the Academy of Cheese which aims to promote cheese knowledge and provide career development within the industry and among the wider public
NFU food chain placement student Hannah Malpass, who attended, said: “Overall the day was very successful. Coming from a dairy background myself it was great to see how Gemma had diversified the family farm and I found the more technical talks about TB and calf health fascinating.
“It is encouraging to hear talks about social media and people realising that if we wish for the dairy industry to grow then we all need to follow the change and become more digital to engage with the consumer.
“The event was brilliant to meet like-minded people involved in the dairy industry and provided a great opportunity to do some vital networking.”