DCRC presents at international meeting

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) is an organization that was formed in 1876 to promote and improve the dairy industry in the United Kingdom. A major initiative of RABDF was to create and run the Dairy Show. This event had a heavy focus on showing animals for more than 100 years. In 2018, RABDF launched Dairy-Tech as a new event to promote technology and innovation in the UK dairy industry.

This year marked the fifth year of Dairy-Tech and I was honored to attend the event and represent the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) and Zoetis. DCRC, along with PEAK Genetics, World Wide Sires and Zoetis, sponsored a program consisting of three speakers to present on sustainability, profitability and reproductive efficiency. Topics and presenters included “Sustainable dairying for the next 10 years and beyond,” by John Cole of PEAK Genetics; “Dairy profitability: Hitting the basics,” by Matt Utt of Zoetis; and “Using data to improve herd reproductive efficiency,” by John Cook of World Wide Sires. Renee Brod from the DCRC staff attended and took charge of the DCRC booth. We had a prime location – directly in front of the main entrance.

The evening before the one-day event, Renee, John Cole and I went to dinner with the RABDF board of trustees. It was a great dinner and time spent getting to know influential UK dairy producers. Although it was interesting to discuss differences between dairying in the United Kingdom compared to the United States, the general conversations about our vocations, lives and hot topics in our respective countries made for a wonderful evening. Dairy-Tech started off the next morning with a VIP breakfast hosted by Barclays, a UK bank and major sponsor of Dairy-Tech. Cole opened the event with his presentation, which was followed by mine in the Dairy Hub speaking area.

Cook’s presentation was held later in the day in the Innovation Hub. The presentation areas were very different from what we would see at a DCRC conference. The most notable difference was their location in the middle of trade show areas. There was mixed seating from risers to tables and chairs. People were walking around the trade show during the presentations. At first, I thought this

might be distracting; however, I found that I liked it, specifically the casual atmosphere and surprisingly intimate setting amidst the trade show. All presentations were well attended and evoked good questions. After each of the DCRC presentations, speakers came back to the DCRC booth to interact with attendees.

What was Dairy-Tech like? The best way I can describe it is a combination between Western Dairy Management Conference and the World Dairy Expo trade show. I believe this event provided excellent visibility of DCRC to influential people in the UK dairy industry. RABDF was a wonderful host. The group’s hospitality made us feel welcome and truly a part of Dairy-Tech. Overall, I thought this was a great first step for DCRC to participate in an international event.