Mark your calendars for the 2020 Dairy Cattle Welfare Symposium

Registration is now open for the 5th Dairy Cattle Welfare Symposium

Promoting dairy cattle welfare and ethics through science and implementation of best practices. The program will be held on May 27-28, 2020 at the Marriott located in downtown Syracuse, New York. The Dairy Cattle Welfare Council (DCWC), a growing organization formally established in 2016, is hosting the event.

 

 

This symposium brings together dairy farmers, veterinarians, consultants, universities, and others in the dairy community. A comment from last year was, “I think it is very rare that we manage to get minds with similar interests from different parts of the food chain together in one room. Made for very thoughtful discussion from different perspectives.” Another participant said, “Networking, networking, networking. The discussions happening around tables and in the hallways are always one of the most enlightening and useful pieces of the event – which is saying a lot because the level of material presented is typically outstanding!”

The first keynote speaker will be Dr. Christine Webb discussing “Animal Empathy and the Ethical Upshot”. Other speakers will include Drs. Julie Føske Johnsen, Nina Von Keyserlingk, Jennifer Walker, Monique Pairis-Garcia, Lily Edwards-Callaway, Noa Roman-Muniz, Karen Waite, Kris Hiney, and Betsy Greene. The program will also include producer panel discussions, group discussions, as well as short oral presentations on dairy welfare-related research by graduate students from universities across the country.

The Symposium will also offer a Spanish-Speaking Session targeted towards farm managers, herdsmen, and key employees. This session will be held during the afternoon of the first day, May 27th. The goal for the Spanish-speaking session is to teach the basics of animal welfare, why it is important on the dairy, and how to train other employees. Participants can register to attend only this session for $75 per person or $200 for four people from the same farm.

Cost of registration for the full program is $250 until April 30th and $300 afterwards. Student registration is $75 and is limited to 30 students. The two-day program will offer 14 hours of continuing education credits for veterinarians as well as credit from ARPAS, PAACO, and The FARM Program.
The full conference schedule, other details and online registration are available on the symposium’s website at https://dcwcouncil.org/symposium

Current sponsors of the event include the following: platinum-level sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim; silver-level sponsors Aurora Organic Dairy and Danone; and bronze-level sponsors Calf Star, Cargill, Diamond V, Elanco, FACTA, FARM Program, FutureCow, IceRobotics, Novus, Organic Valley, Phibro Animal Health, Select Sires, Sexing Technologies, Where Food Comes From/Validus and Zinpro. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available.

For more information or sponsorship opportunities, please visit the website at www.dcwcouncil.org/symposium or contact us at DCWCouncil@gmail.com