After 18 months of virtual working and socialising UK Dairy Day returned to the International Centre at Telford and welcomed over 7,000 visitors for the one-day event with trade stands fully sold out in advance. The event was the first to take place in the dairy industry since March 2020 and brought together all facets of the industry for face-to-face networking alongside a showcase of some of the UK’s best dairy cattle.

On-site were 170 cattle that had travelled from as far as Forres, Inverness to Penzance, Cornwall.  UK Dairy Day hosted the National Shows for the Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Holstein breeds, along with classes for Dairy Shorthorns and Jerseys. The cattle show was live-streamed with the recording now available to watch online.

A leading line-up of judges cast their professional eye over the show ring with John Suffern as the National Ayrshire Show Judge, Stuart Williams as the National Brown Swiss Show Judge, Dawn Coryn as the National Guernsey Show Judge, David Booth as the National Holstein Show Judge and Owain Harries judging the Dairy Shorthorn classes and Ben Etteridge judging the Jersey classes.

The Heifer Champions were:

• Ayrshire Heifer Champion
  Morwick Gwen 35 (Willhome Pams Horizon), M A Howie

• Holstein Heifer Champion
  Evening Sidekick Jennifer (Walnut Sidekick), Evening Hill Farms Ltd

The Grand Champions were:

• Ayrshire Grand Champion
  Troutbeck Skyfall Peony Rose, P & J Mattinson

• Brown Swiss Grand Champion
  Kedar Shut Up And Dance With Me (T Lochhead & Sons)

• Dairy Shorthorn Grand Champion
  Churchroyd Bronte Wildeyes 51 (IRG Collins & Partners)

• Guernsey Grand Champion
  Tredinney Echo Alicia (RJ & JR Warren)

• Jersey Grand Champion
  Bluegrass Sams Dreaming (A H Wilson & Son)

• Holstein Grand Champion
  Riverdane Absolute Springsteen (Apples Absolute Red), Riverdane Holsteins

The Holstein UK Premier Exhibitor and Premier Breeder Awards were both awarded to Riverdane Holsteins.  The Best Presented and Tidy Cattle Lines, sponsored by NW Resources, were both awarded to Panda Holsteins for their attention to detail. The Howard Sneesby Memorial Trophy was awarded to Holstein UK CEO Sue Cope for her life-long commitment to the National Holstein Show.  Sue’s commitment to the Society, UK Dairy Day and the National Holstein Show are shown through her positive leadership and constant support and encouragement for many years to all stakeholders.

The wider aisles created spacious but full internal and external exhibition areas with 230 trade stands showcasing their products and services, offering advice, innovative giveaways and providing fantastic hospitality. The external trade stands were displayed at their best in the glorious sunshine that graced the event following evening rainfall.

Hettle Andrews sponsored the Trade Stand Awards and had the unenviable task of judging stand attractiveness, staff presentation and interaction, clarity of branding and stand layout. Internally, the best Small Trade Stand Award went to KW Alternative Feeds, the Medium Trade Stand was presented to LLM Farm Vets and the ADF Milking won the Large Trade Stand Award. Externally, the family feed business GLW Feeds won the External Trade Stand Award.

The New Product Competition, sponsored and judged by IDEXX Laboratories Ltd, featured eight innovative products launched into the market since 1st August 2020. The winning new product was awarded to InVent from ADF Milking Limited, with Abbi Aerotech B.V.’s Dairyfan: Abbifan 140-XXP-21 receiving the Highly Commended Award and a Judge’s Special Mention was given to Holm & Laue for Inline BRIX Sensor Automatic Calffeeder.

The eight finalists were:

• Animat Low Emission Mat - Intershape Ltd
• Dairyfan:  Abbifan 140-XXP-21 - Abbi Aerotech B.V.
• Inline BRIX Sensor Automatic Calffeeder - Holm & Laue
• InVent - ADF Milking Limited
• Milktaxi 400Ltr (Pasteuriser) - Holm & Laue
• SupremeBed - Fairfield Supplies Ltd
• Dairy Sustain - NWF Agriculture Ltd
• Volac ImunoGuard - Volac International

The ever-popular practical demonstrations returned with visitors watching the foot trimming, blocking and knife sharpening by Tim Carter and his team. Scarsdale Vets also presented their innovative and engaging ‘Beneath the Black and White’ calf painting and in the Breed Village members of the National Bovine Data Centre’s (NBDC) Classification team ran type classification and linear scoring demonstrations.

A new format for seminars saw the introduction of four industry panels which attracted record number of attendees, and required additional seating for the lunchtime panel titled ‘Future Farming with Climate Change’. The seminars and panels, sponsored by Harper Adams, covered a wide range of topics to help dairy farmers, a careers board promoted current opportunities and displays promoted industry initiatives, training providers and charities. 

Sue Cope, Holstein CEO and UK Dairy Day Event Director, said; “I am delighted that we were able to host UK Dairy Day after 18 months of uncertainty.  I have been overwhelmed with the positive support and reaction from the industry to make the event happen.  The pandemic has highlighted the important role dairy farmers have in food production and this event provided the opportunity to network, learn and socialise.”

She adds; “Finally I would like to acknowledge the excellent support received from the industry enabling this year’s event to take place.  I would like to thank our Principal sponsors Crystalyx, Fullwood Packo, Holstein UK and NWF Agriculture, our media partners Farmers Guardian and Holstein International, along with all our associate and cattle class sponsors, trade exhibitors, cattle exhibitors and visitors who all support UK Dairy Day, making it one of the best dairy industry events in the UK.”

VIEW photographs from UK Dairy Day 2021.

Save the Date for 2022.

UK Dairy Day returns on Wednesday 14th September 2022 at The International Centre, Telford, Shropshire.