9 May 2008

• RABDF Princess Royal Award made to livestock consultant

Tim Brigstocke has been presented with the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers' Princess Royal Award by Her Royal Highness at Buckingham Palace yesterday, Thursday 8 May. More...

29 April 2008

• Developing leaders to tomorrow's dairy industry

The following presentations were given by speakers at a one day conference organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, Plunkett Foundation, English Farming and Food Partnerships, and Dairy Farmers of Britain held on Tuesday 29 April at the Moat House Hotel, Stoke on Trent. More...

9 April 2008

• RABDF welcomes Welsh plans for badger cull

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has welcomed the Welsh Assembly Government's £27million bTB eradication programme which includes culling badgers in targeted hot-spot areas. More...

20 March 2008

• Nine hundred in frame for 2008 Gold Cup

A record number of dairy herds have qualified for this year's NMR/RABDF Gold Cup.
Nine hundred milk recorded dairy herds have met the entry criteria of at least 100 cows in the milking herd and, based on records for the year ending September 2007, an average cell count of 200,000/ml or less and a minimum PIN specific to the breed - £5 in the case of Holsteins. More...

10 March 2008

• Yorkshire dairy farm walk: milking grass for profit

Dairy farmers can find out how to make more from forage by attending a Milking Grass for Profit farm walk on Tuesday 18 March at Thornhill Hall Farm, Thornhill. More...

3 March 2008

• Devon dairy farm walk: milking grass for profit

Dairy farmers can find out how to make more from forage by attending a Milking Grass for Profit farm walk on Thursday 27 March at Boode Farm, Boode, Braunton organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, British Grassland Society and Milk Development Council. More...

27 February 2008

• Pembrokeshire dairy farm walk: milking grass for profit

Dairy farmers can find out how to make more from forage by attending a Milking Grass for Profit farm walk on Tuesday 11 March at Vaynor Farm, Bethesda, Narberth organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, British Grassland Society and Milk Development Council. More...

27 February 2008

• RABDF welcomes EFRA's bTB recommendations

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has welcomed the EFRA committee report's multi-faceted approach to tackling bTB and appealed to Government to implement its proposed common sense measures at the earliest. More...

25 February 2008

• bTB pre-movement tests cost £15 per animal

Bovine TB pre-movement testing is costing livestock producers more than £15 per animal, a figure deemed as a major cost burden to their business, according to conclusions from an RABDF farmer survey. More...

22 February 2008

• The Dairy Event and Livestock Show 2008

Re-branded The Dairy Event and Livestock Show, the two day specialist event will offer comprehensive technical, business and financial information for the entire UK ruminant sector at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on 17 and 18 September. More...

5 February 2008

• RABDF disappointed over abandoned milk co-op merger plans

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has expressed disappointment over today's joint announcement from the UK's largest milk co-operatives, Milk Link and First Milk, to abandon their merger plans. More...

21 January 2008

• Beef and sheep sector called to follow dairy lead

RABDF College Lecturers Day

Beef and sheep sectors have been urged to follow the dairy industry’s lead and offer specialist information events for college staff. The call was made by Jonathan Clarke of Warwickshire College which last week hosted an agricultural lecturers day organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and attracting 35 delegates representing 21 colleges located throughout the UK. More...

28 November 2007

• Commercial goat meeting and farm walk

Opportunities and realities of the commercial goat farming sector will come under the microscope at a farm walk to be staged by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) at Wallis Farms, Llangrove, near Ross on Wye, on Wednesday 28 November. More...

23 October 2007

• RABDF welcomes chief scientist's support for badger cull

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has welcomed Government chief scientist, Sir David King's report to ministers in which he advises a badger cull in areas where there is 'a high and persistent incidence of bTB, provided removal takes place alongside an effective programme of cattle controls'. However, the association has expressed surprise that the recommendation has come from Sir David, rather than Defra, the department responsible for bTB, and that it is completely at odds with those made less than four months ago by the Independent Scientific Group (ISG). More...

19 October 2007

• Third time lucky - Lancashire Jersey Herd strikes gold

Finalists for the past three years, Ian and Sally Macalpine from Clitheroe, in Lancashire, have risen to the top spot this year and won the UK dairy industry's most prestigious award - the NMR/RABDF Gold Cup. A finalist for the second year running Peter Jack from Blandford Forum, in Dorset , is this year's runner-up and wins the NMR Silver Salver. More...

19 October 2007

• RABDF/Defra Farm Health Planning Award 2007

Richard Pye, an FdSc Agriculture student studying at Myerscough College has received the RABDF/Defra Farm Health Planning Award, a new awareness raising initiative for younger members of the industry. Richard was awarded a £500 cash prize by Defra, and the college he represented received £500 towards a farm health planning project. More...

8 October 2007

• RABDF welcomes co-op merger proposals

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has welcomed First Milk and Milk Link's announcement that they are in talks to fully merge the two farmer owned businesses with a combined total of 4,250 producers and a turnover of £1 billion. More...

14 September 2007

• Statement from Lyndon Edwards Chairman of RABDF Council:

"It is with great regret that I have to announce the cancellation of next week's Dairy Event due to take place at Stoneleigh Park Coventry on Wednesday 19th & Thursday 20th September 2007.

The Council Members of RABDF, organisers of the event, have taken specialist veterinary and professional advice and concluded that following the resurgence of the Foot and Mouth outbreak, it would be seriously unwise and irresponsible to hold a meeting of 10,000 farmers in one place, particularly as they will have travelled from all parts of the UK.

We are still unsure that the virus has not spread outside the Surrey surveillance zone and a decision had to be made today as contractors and stand holders were planning to build the event over the weekend."

12 September 2007

• The effect of cattle movement restrictions on the Dairy Event

Following discussions with Defra and the imposition of cattle movement restrictions covering Great Britain, RABDF will not be able to accept cattle exhibits and livestock on stands at next week's Dairy Event to be held at Stoneleigh Park on 19th and 20th September. However, the Dairy Event will still be going ahead. More...

31 August 2007

• Dairy Event 2007 to stage livestock

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) has confirmed that livestock will be present at the 2007 Dairy Event, to be held on 19 and 20 September at Stoneleigh Park , Coventry. More...

28 August 2007

• Six outstanding dairy farms vie for industry's top award the NMR/RABDF Gold Cup 2007

Six dairy farms - from more than 800 qualifying herds - are through to the final stages of this year's NMR/RABDF Gold Cup. The 2007 winner will be announced at the Dairy Event, Stoneleigh, on Wednesday 19 September. More...

13 August 2007

• Foot and Mouth Information

Foot and Mouth disease was confirmed on a beef fattening unit in Surrey on 3rd August 2007. Protection and Surveillance Zones were declared around the infected premises, and all livestock on the holding were culled and their carcases incinerated. Since then there has been another confirmed outbreak on a second holding within the original Protection Zone. Consequentially, the animals on this holding were also slaughtered. More...

6 August 2007

• RABDF encourage on-farm biosecurity

RABDF has urged farmers to adopt stringent biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD). The Association has in particular encouraged farmers to protect each other by limiting contact with other livestock keepers and ensuring all vehicles, clothing and people entering their premises are cleansed and disinfected. More...

3 August 2007

• RABDF call for processors to stop living in the past

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has called for milk contracts to be less prescriptive and more in touch with the realities of the marketplace. The Association believes that farm-gate milk prices are 'ridiculously low' and that many contracts on offer to farmers contain unreasonable clauses and unworkable demands. More...

25 July 2007

• Farmers call for immediate restoration of mains water in flooded areas

Farmers have has expressed concern for the health and welfare of farm livestock in flood stricken areas of the country and have called for all mains water supplies to be restored at the earliest opportunity. Animals in Gloucestershire, where little provision of drinking water has been made for dairy cows and other livestock. More...

23 July 2007

• RABDF calls for farm-gate prices to reflect production cost changes

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers has called for farm-gate milk prices to more urgently reflect changes in production costs. The Association believes that in particular rises in feed costs should be incorporated into all milk prices with immediate effect. More...