New opportunity for British farmers to train in dairy farm management in the USA

Located in Washington State, the GTC specialises in the two key areas of advanced dairy management training and advanced reproductive training
Located in Washington State, the GTC specialises in the two key areas of advanced dairy management training and advanced reproductive training

International cattle genetics and breeding company, World Wide Sires, has opened its American training centre to dairy farmers and agriculturalists from the UK.

Offering the service through the recently independent World Wide Sires UK, it is hoped that conveying the US experience to UK producers and advisers will enhance dairy farm management practices and improve performance and profits in UK herds.

The Global Training Centre (GTC) which is at the hub of the operation, was established expressly to provide a world-class training programme which is tailored and designed to advance the knowledge and skill of each individual attending.

Having hosted many trainees from around the world, it has now played host to its first tranche of trainees from the UK, who attended the centre this autumn and who included farmers, vets, nutritionists, representatives from milk buyers and dairy farm consultants.

Located in Washington State, the GTC specialises in the two key areas of advanced dairy management training and advanced reproductive training, and the people delivering the programmes include leading practising vets and dairying consultants. Each programme focuses on eight days of intense activity and operates in collaboration with five dairy herds, ranging in size from 1,000 to 24,000 cows.

'Learn from the best'

“These two programmes provide the perfect opportunity for any UK farmers, farm workers or agriculturalists to learn from the leading American producers and trainers,” says Mike Halliwell, business development manager for WWS UK who is handling delivery of the training.

“These producers have been through the pain of low milk prices which have beset their industry for around 20 years; we now have the opportunity to learn from the best of those who survived, and understand how they did it.”

Elizabeth Custer from Kite Consulting was part of the first UK group to invest in the training and says she aims to transfer the knowledge she gained to her clients, in order to ensure they enter and remain in the top percentile in the world.

Amongst her take-home memories, she says successful working protocols should be as relevant for 100 as 10,000 cows and that – since fertility and reproduction are the highest drivers of milk production – the course reinforced the value of highly skilled reproductive technicians.

“In my opinion, the success of this course revolves around the fact that the training is carried out on farms which are independently serviced by two of the GTC vets,” she added. “This creates a level of commercialism and relevance which buys credibility – in other words, the farms used for training want the GTC team on their facilities.”

A series of open farmer evening meetings, hosted by WWS UK and GTC staff from the Washington State unit, will give a taste of the American industry and what GTC has to offer. Dates are venues are as follows:

12 Dec: Carlisle – Cattle Market

13 Dec: Beeston – Royal Boar Hotel

14 Dec: Shrewsbury – Cattle Market

15 Dec: Marlborough – Golf Club

16 Dec: Taunton – TBC