This course which aims to provide delegates with a thorough understanding of practical feeding management for dairy herds along with knowledge relating to the financial aspects of feeding a dairy herd.

Feed Assessment and Analysis

• Methods of determining the nutrient content of feed stuff and their rumen dynamics
• Strengths and weaknesses of differing analytical techniques
• How to read between the lines of forage analyses and choose the right tests in the right circumstances

Feeding Systems

• Reviewing the principal methods of feeding; strengths and weaknesses within different production systems
• Understanding and assessing where issues may occur

Feeding Behaviour and Management

• Reviewing the principals and science of feeding, grazing and bunk management
• Understanding how cow behaviour influences feeding and nutrition

Milk Contracts

• How contracts are structured and what influences farm income
• Dissecting contracts and understanding what the incentivise, and how to maximise income

Manipulating Milk Constituents

• What drives milk constituent production, and how can we change it?
• Troubleshooting quality issues

Appraisal of Feed Costings on a Dairy Herd

• Understanding the metrics within feed costings, and their appropriateness for different systems
• Becoming familiar with key metrics, and understanding how to easily calculate them in the field

If you are booking 5 or more delegates, please contact us for a group discount.

Date: 3^rd & 4^th July 2024
Duration: 2 Days
Time: Course starts 10am on the first day and finishes at 4pm on the second day
Venue: Garstang Country Club

Cost (Course): £575 + vat
Cost (Inc DBB): £695 + vat

If you are booking 5 or more delegates, please contact us for a group discount.

Julia Moorhouse, Head of Veterinary Services, Map of Ag

Julia qualified at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Science in 2000 and worked in mixed, mainly farm animal practice in the North of England for 13 years before joining Map of Ag (previously EBVC / Evidence Group). She holds the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ Certificate in Cattle Health and Production and completed a MSc in Sustainable and Efficient Food Production at the University of Aberystwyth in 2019.

Julia’s role involves provision of technical advice relating to dairy herd health, welfare, nutrition and management to the dairy industry including processors, retailers and their producers. She also provides direct consultancy advice to dairy farms in the North of England.

Julia’s key areas of interest include feeding management, forage production and youngstock.

Richard Cooper, RCVS Specialist in Cattle Health and Production, Map of Ag

Richard Cooper qualified as a vet from Bristol in 2002, subsequently working in Devon and New Zealand. He undertook a farm animal residency at the University of Bristol in 2008, subsequently gaining his RCVS Diploma in Cattle Health and Production and RCVS Registered Specialist status.

Richard provides nutritional consultancy on behalf of Map of Ag to dairy and beef farmers, and veterinary consultancy to processors and retailers in the agrifood supply chain. He completed a master’s degree in Public Health and Epidemiology in 2017, which consolidated his love of using data to help inform farm decision making.