The event is organised by by Lillico-Attlee, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned agricultural merchants, together with the Evidence Based Veterinary Consultancy at Penrith, Cumbria, the event will bring together world-class specialists in practical dairy herd management, research, nutrition and health.

Dr Randy Shaver, Professor of Dairy Science and Nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of the world's leading authorities on forage, forage digestibility and overall dairy cow nutrition, will start the proceedings with a presentation entitled ‘What are we learning about starch for dairy cows?

This will be followed by ‘Setting goals for rearing heifers: future performance’, a presentation by Dr Alex Bach. Director of the Department of Ruminant Production of Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA) and Research Professor at the Institut Català de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Dr Bach will give delegates some very practical tips, grounded by large-scale research programmes.

Challenging existing pre-conceptions, Dr Bach will prompt debate and provide benchmarks that delegates can take away to enable them to draw comparisons against their own herd’s performance.

Steve Eicker, Co-founder of Valley Ag Software and an expert in using data to monitor current dairy herd performance, will start the afternoon’s proceedings with a review of developments in farm financial performance and outline how this has the power to improve decision making. Steve is an exciting speaker and his presentation ‘Making financial decisions on your dairy farm’ will be keenly anticipated.

In the evening, delegates will have the option of attending the Large Herd Seminar dinner, which will include an after dinner speaker.

The exciting programme which has been lined up for Wednesday will begin with a presentation by Synergy Farm Health ‘Early Lactation Therapy – a new approach to mastitis management’, which will be followed by a talk by Dr Alex Bach’s entitled ‘Effective nutritional programmes for rearing heifers’.

The second half of the morning will include a presentation by NMR of performance figures for the five Gold Cup / Dairy Farmer of the Year winners who will take part in the Farmer Panel which follows. The morning session will also include a further presentation by Steve Eicker, ‘Making feed-related financial decisions on your dairy farm’.

In the afternoon, Dr Paul Rapnicki, Clinical Professor of Dairy Production Medicine, will focus on ‘Dairy Stockmanship’, while Steve Paul, who has been trimming cows’ feet for over 28 years, will discuss ‘Feet – What should I be doing?’ Steve is a fully qualified instructor and inspector (NPTC) and a founding member of the National Association of Cattle Foot Trimmers (NACFT).

The concluding presentation of the 2012 Large Herd Seminar, ‘The next step – the latest in dairy cattle feeding’, will be delivered by Dr Randy Shaver.

The Large Herd Seminar would not be possible without the generous support of its sponsors. This year’s Platinum-level sponsors include Arm & Hammer, IntervetSP/Merck, Micron Bio-Systems and Zinpro, with Gold-level sponsorship from Alta, DairyCo, NMR, MVF–Feed Solutions and Volac International. AB Vista and Envirosystems (silver) and DSM (bronze) will also support the event.

Commenting on the 7th Large Herd Seminar, organiser Warwick Bastard states: “We are excited about this year’s programme because finding solutions to some of the difficult problems which affect large dairy herds can have such a major positive impact on herd productivity and financial performance. The world-class line-up of speakers for this year’s event will ensure that the Large Herd Seminar continues to go from strength to strength.

“The event’s unique format brings all sections of the dairy industry together over two days and has been a major factor in its increasing popularity. This year’s programme should ensure that all who attend will take home information to improve the performance of their herds.”

Bookings can be made through the Large Herd Seminar website – www.largeherds.com