We hope that you enjoyed the Conference,
​and we look forward to seeing you next year!

The fifth of the Next Generation Dairying Conferences sponsored by the Hannah Dairy Research Foundation was held on Monday and  Tuesday 20th and 21st November, 2023. 

The main theme for the Conference was Next Generation Quality Dairying and eminent speakers examined how quality can be improved across the whole spectrum of the dairy foods chain: quality of life for animals, quality of life for farmers, quality of products for consumers and the environment. Within these themes we addressed how quality can be improved by building better relationships and by minimising wastage in all of its forms.
Optimising relationships, minimising wastage, building quality

The presentations are now online

Meet the Plenary Speakers

Dr Graziana Difonzo, University of Bari, Italy
Graziana Difonzo is a Tenure Track research scientist in the Food Technology Unit of DiSSPA-University of Bari Aldo Moro. Her PhD was in food science and she now has a research focus on the use of sustainable technologies to upcycle by-products from agri-food systems. This involves the extraction of bioactive compounds from agro-food chain by-products and the formulation of high-value added foods. She has presented in numerous scientific meetings and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, of which her recent review “Application of Agri-Food By-Products in Cheesemaking” will feature in her presentation. 
Find Graziana at:
 www.researchgate.net/profile/Graziana-Difonzo
Professor Philip Robinson, Harper & Keele Veterinary School, UK
​
A graduate of Glasgow vet school with considerable experience across Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and, by virtue of a Fulbright Scholarship, the USA, Professor Philip Robinson is Deputy Head of the Harper & Keele Veterinary School and active in both veterinary teaching and research. He was previously Head of the Department of Animal Health, Behaviour and Welfare at Harper Adams University. His main research interests are in veterinary public health, veterinary surveillance, enzootic disease control in livestock, veterinary education, and using qualitative research methodologies at the interface of the natural and social sciences. He also serves as the Senior Vice President of the Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (SVEPM) and as a Senior Editor of the scientific journal Annals of Applied Biology. His presentation will focus on the quality of farmer/vet/adviser relationships and how improvements can reduce wastage due to poor animal health and management.
Find Philip at
​https://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/general/staff/profile/201383/Philip-Robinson/
Professor Sigrid Agenäs, Swedish Agricultural University, Uppsala

Sigrid has her MSc and PhD in animal science from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). She then went on to do a post-doc on under-nutrition in cattle at the University of Cambridge. In 2016 Sigrid was appointed Professor in management of ruminants with focus on lactation biology at SLU and is currently also the director of SustAinimal, which is a collaborative research centre investigating the role of animals in future Swedish food systems. Her research includes sustainability aspects of dairy production and she has been invited to share a recently published literature review on interactions between welfare of dairy cows and farm economy.
​Find Sigrid at https://www.slu.se/en/ew-cv/sigrid-agenas/
Emma Gregson was previously a Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham investigating the environmental impact of the dairy industry and is now is the Environment Manager at Dairy UK. She discusses her work at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGiQa4KjWyk 
Nic Parsons  is Head of Dairy Development for AHDB, responsible for driving the Strategic Dairy Farms initiative. Previously he was Agriculture Manager for Tesco Plc, worked for Arla Foods and Dalgety Agriculture as a ruminant feed specialist.
Find Nic at: https://ahdb.org.uk/Staff/nic-parsons 
Dr Rebecca Wheeler, University of Exeter, UK 
​Rebecca Wheeler is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR) at the University of Exeter. Her research interests include health and wellbeing in the agricultural community and it is her recently published research into farmer quality of life that will be the focus of her presentation. She also has significant research interest in farmer attitudes, behaviour and decision-making in relation to the environment, including agri-environment schemes, landscape-scale management and adaptation to climate change and in public engagement with farming and nature and the relationships between farmers and the broader community. All of these topics are very relevant to our Conference themes, so we very much look forward to Rebecca’s participation.
Find Rebecca at
https://politics.exeter.ac.uk/staff/rebeccawheeler/ ​
Dr Conor Hogan, Teagasc, Ireland
Conor manages the People in Dairy Programme in Teagasc, Ireland. A research programme which aims to support the development of profitable and sustainable dairy farms that offer high standards of operator quality of life for current and future generations. His main research interests include labour productivity, work organisation and workplace design.  Conor’s PhD focused on techniques to maximise labour productivity and minimise labour demand on Irish dairy farms in collaboration between Teagasc Moorepark and University College Dublin. The focus of his presentation will be on the results from his thesis and the potential impact that they can have on farmer quality of life. Prior to this he graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor Degree in Dairy Business.
Find Conor at https://www.teagasc.ie/contact/staff-directory/h/conor-hogan/ 

Our after-dinner Guest Speaker

Heather Wildman, Saviour Associates

​Heather hails from a livestock family farm in the Lake District but now lives in Scotland, where she has over 30 year's experience of working with both farmers and industry throughout the UK and overseas (her Nuffield Farming Scholarship travels in 2012 enabled her to study “Communication: influencing and motivating change”). Through her strong entrpreneurial skills and extensive network of industry contacts she offers a fun and unique “glass-half-full” approach to assist farming enterprises with management and collaboration issues. Highly motivated, passionate and a straight talker, not afraid of tackling difficult and sensitive issues with utmost respect, Heather will undoubtedly entertain us with her after-dinner talk on the topic of quality of life for farmers.
Find Heather at
​http://www.saviourassociates.co.uk/meet-heather.asp ​