A tour of specialist calf and heifer rearing meetings this March will provide dairy farmers throughout England and Wales with expert advice on how to improve youngstock performance.
The series of #FitForTheFuture youngstock meetings is part of a nationwide roadshow being delivered this March by ForFarmers, with the aim of providing expert guidance to dairy farmers looking to improve future dairy herd performance through better calf and heifer rearing.
With heifer rearing accounting for the second largest expenditure on dairy farms after feed costs, improving calf and heifer rearing can have a significant, positive impact on improving a dairy enterprise’s profitability.
The series of meetings will take place in eight separate locations, starting on March 5th in Carlisle, before visiting Ripon and Warrington on the 6th, Shrewsbury and St Clears in Carmarthen on the 7th, Bridgwater and Shaftesbury on the 8th and finally concluding in Bodmin on March 9th.
Each meeting will revolve around presentations from three leading experts in the field of youngstock management, including Peter Van’t Veld, Technical Manager at Denkavit, youngstock rearing specialist Dr Steven Morrison from Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, and Jamie Robertson, Director of Livestock Management Systems Ltd and Honorary research fellow at Aberdeen University.
Topics that will be covered as part of the #FitForTheFuture meeting include the use of colostrum and milk feeding to maximise calf performance, steps that producers can take to ensure that heifers achieve their first calving targets and how improved housing can boost calf health and growth gains.
To find out more information about where and when the individual meetings will take place, got to the website at www.forfarmer.co.uk, follow ForFarmers on twitter or facebook on @ForFarmersUK, email info.uk@forfarmers.eu or telephone 01275 378 383.
