The BEST yet! Fantastic support was evident at the sixth UK Dairy Day demonstrating the strength, positivity, and dedication of the dairy industry with thousands visiting Telford to network, learn and do business.

The dairy industry faces great challenges; the negativity in the media, the financial pressures of milk prices and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit can leave every one bewildered on the future. However, UK Dairy Day attracted over 9,000 visitors bringing together all facets of the industry and saw excellent support from dairy farmers visiting the event, trade exhibitors, cattle exhibitors and sponsors, making it yet again one of the best dairy industry events.

Internal and external exhibition areas were full with over 300 exhibitors representing all sectors of the industry showcasing their products and services, offering advice, innovative giveaways and fantastic hospitality. The weather was fantastic for machinery and equipment to sparkle in the sunshine throughout the external area which included a very tall bulk tank shadowing the venue.

The standard of trade exhibitors was excellent and Hettle Andrews had the challenge of judging the trade stands to review attractiveness, staff presentation and interaction, clarity of branding and stand layout. Internally the best small trade stand award went to Antonelli, a family business experienced in the ice cream industry. Medium trade stand was awarded to LLM Farm Vets for their Lucky Cow bar and best large trade stand was awarded to Norbrook showcasing their animal health range. Externally, for a second year running, Hoofcount won the best external trade stand award.

The New Product Competition, sponsored and judged by IDEXX, featured 12 innovative products launched into the market since last year’s event. Taking top award and the Winner prize card was DeLaval Evanza Milk Cluster, closely followed as Highly Commended was Allflex with Youngstock Application. Two further products were awarded a Judges Special Mention; these were Alltech Navigate™ and Buitelaar High Health Unit.

The 12 finalists were:

• Agriton PowerGrain® from EM Agriton Ltd 
• Alltech Navigate™ from Alltech & KEENAN
• CLARIFIDE® Plus from Zoetis 
• Cockpit from Afimilk 
• DeLaval Evanza Milk Cluster from DeLaval 
• Feed Alert from Collinson 
• Fibraque Oriane from Celtilait 
• LACTORGANIC 26-16 from The Calf Company 
• Optima Climate Calf Barn (OCCB) from The Calf Company 
• The High Health Unit from Buitelaar 
• Total Transition from Premier Nutrition
• Youngstock Application from Allflex Livestock Intelligence 

Sharing knowledge was again at the heart of the event with the dedicated first-floor zone featuring seminars, careers board and table top displays promoting industry initiatives, training providers and charities. The seminars, sponsored by XLVets, ran throughout the day with an excellent turnout listening to a wide range of topics from future-proofing your herd, to achieving a successful transition, to giving the dairy bull calf a life.

Practical demonstrations drew visitors in their numbers, with more than last year watching the foot trimming, blocking and knife sharpening by Tim Carter and his team. Scarsdale Vets presented their innovative and engaging ‘Beneath the Black and White’ calf painting. Throughout the day various colours of paint were used to help visitors understand calf health and welfare, demonstrate disbudding nerve blocks, calf chests and abdomens to talk about pneumonia and digestion.

New for 2019 was a Genomic Clinic with experts on hand to offer advice on how to interpret genomic reports and results. Alongside the clinic in the NBDC Breed Village were Type Classification and Linear Scoring demonstrations for Ayrshire, Jersey and Holstein breeds.

UK Dairy hosted The National Holstein Show, The National Ayrshire Show and The National Brown Swiss Show along with classes for Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey and Jersey. The amazing showcase of over 170 dairy breeds is all credit to the cattle exhibitors who travelled from across the UK to exhibit and compete for a share of the £25,000 prize fund. The cattle show was live-streamed allowing a wider audience to see the best of the best on show and to promote UK breeders and the genetics that are on offer to European and International dairy farmers.

Judging the leading line up of cattle for 2019 was Patrick Rüttimann for the National Holstein Show, Gilmour Lawrie as National Ayrshire Judge, Robbie Radel from Queensland, Australia as National Brown Swiss Judge, Seimon Thomas as Dairy Shorthorn Judge, Colin Gleed as Guernsey Judge and Matt Pye as Jersey Judge.

The heifer champions were:

• Ayrshire Heifer Champion - Triclo Joybell, E T Tomlinson & Son
• Brown Swiss Heifer Champion - Aurora PI, Toi Toi Genetics
• Holstein Heifer Championship - Absolute Springsteen, Riverdane Holsteins

The Interbreed Heifer Champion judged by Patrick Rüttimann was awarded to Riverdane Absolute Springsteen, Riverdane Holsteins and reserve champion was Allstar Triclo Joybell, E T Tomlinson & Son.

The grand champions were:

• Dairy Shorthorn Grand Champion - Susie 69, Pearn Wyatt & Son

• Jersey Grand Champion - Sams Dreaming, A H Wilson & Son

• Guernsey Grand Champion - Princess Leia, C & M Moody

• Brown Swiss Grand Champion - Rhapsody, T Lochhead & Sons

• Ayrshire Grand Champion - Triclo Joybell, E T Tomlinson & Son

• Holstein Grand Champion - Jazz 1584, R & E Butterfield

The Interbreed Grand Champion, judged by Patrick Rüttimann, was awarded to Newbirks Jazz 1584, R & E Butterfield and reserve champion was Allstar Triclo Joybell, E T Tomlinson & Son.

The Interbreed Dairy Pairs Champion was awarded Holstein with Jersey as reserve.

The Best Presented Cattle Lines, sponsored by NW Resources, was awarded to Sandyford, E T Tomlinson & Son and the Best Tidy Cattle Lines to Kedar, T Lochhead & Sons.

The dedication to dairy continued with an evening of celebration and socialising at the Champions Dinner and presentation of awards. The Holstein UK Premier Exhibitor Award was presented to Evening Hill Farm Ltd and the Premier Breeder Award went to Riverdane Holsteins, both sponsored by World Wide Sires. The Howard Sneesby Memorial Trophy was awarded to Carl Smith who from the ideation of the very first UK Dairy Day in 2014, brought the event to fruition and was instrumental in making it happen.

Sue Cope, UK Dairy Day Event Director, said; “The dedication of everyone in the industry supporting UK Dairy Day made me immensely proud of our 6th event. The excellent support from our sponsors, trade exhibitors and cattle exhibitors makes UK Dairy Day one of the best dairy industry events. Since 2014 and the first planning meetings with Carl Smith and the team, we are now attracting a huge UK and international following and it was a privilege to meet so many people from right across Europe and further afield who had made the journey to the Telford.”

She adds; “Whilst we still have the uncertainty of Brexit we hope UK Dairy Day helped visitors seek advice and view products to help them grow their businesses, whilst also networking and socialising. It was fantastic to welcome Minette Batters to the event and hear her positive messages in our VIP & Sponsors networking lunch. We must remember to stay positive and be proud of the industry and what we are providing consumers. Remain Dedicated to Dairy.” 

Save the Date for 2020!

UK Dairy Day returns on Wednesday 16th September 2020

at The International Centre, Telford, Shropshire.

ENDS