Dairy Conference - Growth Through Innovation
The event brought together approximately 200 farmers, processors, researchers and other dairy industry stakeholders to examine the challenges and opportunities facing the sector in Northern Ireland including how growth can be achieved through innovation in the milk sector.
Professor Seamus Kennedy, AFBI Chief Executive Officer in his opening remarks, said “ There is a sustainable future for milk production in Northern Ireland, but this will only be secured on the back of improved efficiency levels being achieved on farm. It is AFBI’s role to ensure that the research required to allow farmers meet growth targets is carried out, and our conference today has been organised to showcase what we are doing and our plans for the future.
Speakers:
Dr David Dobbin CBE is Group Chief Executive of United Dairy Farmers, Northern Ireland’s largest dairy business. He is actively involved in promoting regional economic development and is a Board member of the AgriFood Strategy Board and Invest NI, Chairman of the Strategic Investment Board and a Belfast Harbour Commissioner .
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Mr Ian McCluggage is Head of Technology and Business Division at the Greenmount Campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Environment (CAFRE). Key areas of work at Greenmount which Ian is
involved with include: farm business development, the adoption of new technology to improve competitiveness. This includes benchmarking, dairy production systems, grass and business challenge, dairy cow nutrition, and milk compositional quality.
View the presentation: Applying Science for Profit
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Dr Conrad Ferris is Head of the Dairy Research programme at AFBI Hillsborough. He has been involved in dairy research for over 20 years, including the development of feeding and management strategies for high genetic merit dairy cows within grassland based systems, examining the role of alternative cow genotypes and crossbreeding, and more recently, reducing the environmental impact of milk production systems
View the presentation: Research for competitive milk production systems
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Dr Catherine Watson is Head of the Agri- Environment Branch at AFBI Newforge, responsible for the delivery of research programmes on greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen transformations, water quality and phosphorus losses, soil quality and nutrient management.
View the presentation: Research for sustainable milk production systems
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Dr Sam Strain is Programme Manager for Animal Health and Welfare Northern Ireland, with responsibility for the Johne’s disease control programmes across the island of Ireland. Sam has previously worked
in mixed general veterinary practice before joining the Veterinary Sciences Division of AFBI, where he was Head of the Salmonella and Brucella culture National References Laboratories as well as Head of the bovine TB culture and TB immunology groups.
View the presentation: New Approaches to the Control of Endemic Diseases
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Bart Van Belleghem
Bart Van Belleghem is the Managing Director of EUCOLAIT, the European Association of Dairy Trade representing
View the presentation: EU & Global Dairy Markets Prospects
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Professor Paul Ross leads the Teagasc Food Research programme and is responsible for the research activities at Moorepark and Ashtown locations. The quality of his research has elevated the scientific reputation
of the Teagasc research programme, and he has developed significant national and international collaborations and secured significant funding for the research programme.
View the presentation: Milk product innovation - an international perspective
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Dr Linda Farmer is Head of Food Science at AFBI. Her personal research interests include the factors affecting the sensory and consumer quality of a range of foods. AFBI Food Science Branch delivers research on the eating quality, nutritional quality and safety of food products and emergency response and specialist advice.
View the presentation: Research for dairy product development
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Mr James Campbell is Chairman of AgriSearch, formed in 1997 to provide a mechanism through which beef, dairy and sheep farmers could have direct involvement in production orientated research. James was the Irish Farmers Journal’s Northern Editor until June 2013 and is a regular contributor, covering milk prices and dairy sector developments in Northern Ireland.
View the presentation: Future priorities for dairy research-an AgriSearch perspective
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Mr Will Taylor OBE is a dairy farmer from Kircubbin in County Down. He was elected as a Director of United Dairy Farmers in 2000 and has retired. He has been a member of the Food Standards Agency Committee for Northern Ireland and was a Nuffield Farming Scholar in 2004. He was formerly president of the Ulster Farmers Union, President of the British Grassland Society and the Chairman of the EU Advisory Committee on livestock. He milks 250 pedigree Holsteins three times a day and
is managing director of Glastry Farm Ice Cream.