Agrisearch conference to feature top industry experts

The aim of the conference is to address the needs of high-yielding dairy herds. This event will bring together leading industry experts to explore key strategies for enhancing herd performance, health, and profitability. The conference is open to all, and interested attendees can secure their place by registering through the AgriSearch website.

The speakers at the conference are:

• Conor Casey a Dairy farmer from Cloughmills who farms 240 Pedigree Holstein cows with herd average of over 10,000 litres on 4 GEA milking robots and robotic GEA feeding system. Conor has keen interest in genetics and will discuss how genomic testing has enabled him to make better informed breeding decisions.

• Keith Gue a Dairy farmer from West Sussex, England who manages his family farm of 2,500 acres and 700 pedigree Holstein cows over two sites on a fully robotic milking system. Keith will be talking about how he approaches his breeding strategy.

• Nial O’Boyle a vet originally from Randallstown now working in England,specialises in high yielding dairy herds. Nial spent 10 years working as a dairy vet and dairy farm manager in Michigan and Iowa and was a partner in an 8,000-cow dairy business with Holsteins averaging 12,000-14,000 litres. Nial will be sharing his insights and views on how the modern dairy cow is a metabolic athlete.

• Claire Beckett a County Down dairy farmer who also works as dairy commercial mineral nutritionist for Trouw nutrition. Claire provides unique technical advice on dairy cow nutrition and management.

• Peter Bone has spent over 30 years working in the field dealing with livestock farmers and veterinary practitioners about mineral nutrition. Over the years his work has taken him to New Zealand and Mexico where he has been invited to speak on mineral nutrition. Peter believes in a evidence based approach to ruminant nutrition. This ensures inputs and the trace element status of animals are fully understood, before supplementation plans are developed.. Peter’s philosophy is that ‘more is not necessarily better’.

Each speaker will be answering attendees questions and giving their valuable insight and opinions. The morning session will be chaired by Mark Little Veterinary Advisor at Fane Valley and a former AgriSearch PhD Scholar. The afternoon session will be Chaired by Ian McCluggage (Vice-Chair AgriSearch).

The conference will conclude with an engaging round table discussion on future research and innovation, chaired by Gary Thompson, Chair of AgriSearch’s Dairy Advisory Committee. This session will provide attendees with a unique opportunity to contribute to shaping the future of dairy farming.