April 23, 2020, by Ruth Musson

Celebrating Nottingham success at Dairytech 2020

Phil Garnsworthy and Jean Margerison were busy showcasing their research and winning awards at Dairytech 2020. The event was held in February at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

Research Showcase 

Together they ran a stand at the event which showcased research conducted at the University of Nottingham Centre for Dairy Science Innovation (CDSI). The stand received hundreds of visitors, including  current and former students  working in the dairy industry, plus journalists and potential sponsors. A video of cows at CDSI proved very popular,  encouraging interest in the posters and stimulating discussion about current research.

Animal Science technicians Neil Saunders and Jen Hankin helped to run the stand and discuss finer details of the research. Research presented was applied in nature, to be of direct relevance to dairy farmers and their suppliers. Farmers were particularly interested in two areas:

• how to increase feed efficiency thereby reducing costs
• how to manage young replacement animals so that they become efficient milking cows.

Overall, it was an excellent outreach activity.

Presentation 

Phil Garnsworthy gave a talk entitled ‘Drivers of efficiency on UK dairy farms’ at the Innovation Hub of the RABDF Dairy Tech event. The talk highlighted results emerging from the Nottingham – AHDB Dairy research partnership project on Whole-Farm Feed Efficiency. Researchers have historically looked only at feed efficiency of milking cows, but this project considers dairy animals from birth until they leave the herd. It is finding that reproductive performance and management of youngstock can have important effects on overall efficiency. The project has also recognised that efficiency varies between dairy systems, so what works best for grazing cows might not be the same as for cows fed on high-quality diets indoors.

RABDF Farm Management Awards Success  

Phil and Jean supervised two students who achieved success in the RABDF Farm Health Management awards.  Congratulations to Lucy   Ross who was the winner, and Chloe Geogheagan who was runner up in the Agricultural University Student Awards category. They both     had to write a 1,500 word essay on proactive farm health management, and the benefits it brings to animal health and welfare and farm   business profitability

Cream Award

Another representative of Nottingham was successful in Dairy Industry Trade Cream Awards which were presented in the evening.   These  awards promote best practice, and recognise some of the brightest and best businesses and people across the industry.  Cath Rees   and her PBD Biotech team received the Prize for Innovation in Dairy Tech.  Cath reports ‘No trip to the palace this year – but not bad!’

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