The venue for Quality Meat Scotland’s Grazing for Growth conference on Friday has been changed to accommodate strong demand for places.
The conference, previously scheduled for United Auctions, Stirling, has been relocated to Airth Castle Hotel, Airth, Stirlingshire, following a surge of requests to attend. The farm visit to Arnprior farm, courtesy of the McEwan family, will take place as scheduled in the afternoon following the conference.
Farmers from throughout Scotland have registered to attend the event which sold out quickly and accumulated a lengthy waiting list. The change of venue means more delegate places will now be available for the free event which features a diverse line-up of expert speakers from around the globe.
Among the speakers at the conference will be John Bailey, an Irishman working in France who has spent considerable time in New Zealand, and Trevor Cook, one of the most respected consultants in New Zealand. Mr Bailey runs a grazing consultancy business and has a huge depth of practical knowledge on grazing.
Trevor Cook is one of the most respected consultants in New Zealand and is a former winner of the Landcorp prize for communication. He is a vet by trade and will talk about opportunities to consistently achieve high animal production per hectare from pasture only systems.
Another speaker will be Michael Shannon, of Lanarkshire, who is achieving tremendous cattle performance from forage-only diets. He has also successfully introduced an innovative grazing system.
Rhys Williams is a Welsh dairy farmer who operates a pasture-based system. He started farming from scratch and successfully grew his farming operation to a half share in 1,600 cows. A big part of that progression was due to him refining his skills as a grazier.
The conference will be rounded off with a visit to view opportunities to improve grazing being trialled at nearby Arnprior.